


For A Good Time Call

by jormaperalta



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: 867-5309!au, College!AU, Multi, dramatic offscreen goldfish death, mentions of a bar fight, modern!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-10-14 05:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 28,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10530072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jormaperalta/pseuds/jormaperalta
Summary: While drunk one night, Jyn Erso gets dared to write her phone number on a wall in a campus bar.Later that same week, Cassian Andor gets dared to text that number.+Based off "867-5309" by Tommy Tutone





	1. 867-5309 (Jyn)

**Author's Note:**

> Note: I don’t know why I headcanon that Bodhi plays drinking games so hard it’s come up in 2 fics but like go with me on it.

Jyn Erso, wrecked from winter semester finals, throws back a tequila shot without bothering with the salt or lime.

“You go hard, Erso,” Bodhi Rook, her closest friend, says with a raised brow.

“I don’t have time to play,” Jyn says with a smile as she signals the bartender for another round of shots. “I have to fit in three weeks of drinking since I don’t think my dad will let me.” She flies home for winter break and her father is somewhat protective and does a good job of locking the liquor cabinet. Luckily, her fake is solid so she should be fine.

Bodhi, who was sipping at his beer, suddenly chugs it. He slams it on the wood of the bar counter, causing Jyn to look over at him in surprise. “Alright, let’s play a game.”

She snorts, “Sure thing, Jigsaw.” 

“I’m serious,” He laughs, already tipsy after only two beers. “Listen. Listen to me, Jyn.” She listens. “Drinking games are such a quick way to get drunk. You _love_ efficiency.” 

“I hate bullshit,” She corrects.

“Whatever, just play, please,” He wheedles.

Jyn plays with her crystal necklace in thought, wasting time, until she says, “Fine, I’m in.”

Bodhi beams, “Awesome! I’ll text more people.” He fumbles for his phone and immediately starts texting.

“Woah, hey, why are you doing that?” She asks, feeling her neck itch at the thought of socializing with people other than Bodhi. They’re very comfortable together, and she thought it was just going to be the two of them.

“You can’t have fun with just two people, Jyn,” Bodhi says obviously, tongue out in concentration as he continues to text. “There are some things better with a group.”

“Sex,” She answers immediately and begins listing things better with two people. “Battleship, Go Fish, fist-bumps-”

“Orgies!” Bodhi interrupts her, suddenly shouting. Everyone in the bar (to be fair, it was decently vacant since most students have already left) looks their way.

Jyn tilts her head away from them to stare at the bar wall, “Jesus Christ, you’re embarrassing.”

“Whatever,” Bodhi says, far past embarrassment. “I think I proved my point.”

Knowing she needs it, she downs another shot and signals to the bartender for another.

Several drinks later, Jyn finds herself laughing over some gossip with Leia Organa, a classmate of theirs in a sophomore-required class, and some other girls that she doesn’t know the name of but that’s _okay_ because they’re all drunk anyway. They’re in the corner booth with empty drinks on the table, and she doesn’t want to admit this is exactly what she needed.

“Truth or dare?” Leia says to Jyn. They had been playing more intense games but they soon lost the dexterity.

“Dare,” Jyn says, fingers playing with the straw of her drink that is very, very fruity that one of the girls, she mentally calls her ‘Braids’, made her order. It’s surprisingly good and easy to drink.

“Dare her to do a truth, she hasn’t done one all night,” A girl with pink hair says then proceeds to suck on a lemon quarter from the bottom of a drink.

“That won’t work,” Bodhi says emphatically. “She has more secrets than the Pentagon. I know five facts about her and most of them are just facts about her face.”

“Good,” Jyn says.

“No distractions!” Leia orders them and they all quiet. “Jyn... I dare you...” She pauses in thought, then starts slurping at her margarita.

“The suspense is killing me,” Jyn deadpans.

“Shush,” Leia smacks her hand on Jyn’s face.

She sighs, but she won’t admit she’s having fun. Well, not without a couple more drinks.

“I dare you,” Leia starts over. “To write your number somewhere on this bar with ‘for a good time call’ on top of it.”

Jyn’s jaw drops.

Bodhi cackles as the other girls gasp.

“Oh my god, that’s-” Bodhi keeps laughing, clutching his sides. He doesn’t bother continuing.

“I’m cutting you off,” Jyn snaps at him, and decides to take the opportunity to divert attention. “He’s a lousy drunk. I should get him home.”

“Not before you write on the bar,” Leia taps her fingers rhythmically on the booth’s table with a wicked grin. “What do you think, girls? On this table, on the wall, or the bar counter?”

“What about the bathroom?” Braids suggests. Jyn doesn’t bother to hide her sneer at that idea.

“I know the bartender,” Leia smiles. “He’ll let us write it anywhere.”

“We shouldn’t do it in the bathroom,” Pink says. Jyn could kiss her in gratitude. “That place is gross and unsanitary. Plus, you get way more foot traffic on the walls here.”

She rescinds the hypothetical, mental kiss.

“Bodhi, get your phone,” Leia says.

Bodhi, who was dozing off, straightens and pulls out his phone. Leia takes it and starts tapping away.

Jyn watches confused until Leia says, “867-5309.”

She purses her lips. The cunning bastard checked her contact so she can't write a fake number.

Leia Organa is going to be a great politician.

“You’re a cruel bastard,” Jyn says, unable to hide her admiration even as she scowls. Pink pulls out a sharpie from her purse and hands it to her.

Jyn exhales slowly and pulls up her knees to kneel on the ratty booth seats. She peeks for a blank spot when she hears a whistle.

She whips around to shout abuse at the catcaller when she sees it’s the bartender.

“What the hell are you doing, Princess?” He calls over. Jyn frowns, but then Leia answers.

“None of your business, nerf-herder,” Leia calls back, leaning regally against the back of the booth.

He sighs as he cleans a glass, looking heavy with the weight of dealing with them. “If you’re gonna deface my bar, then yeah it is.”

“C’mon, Han!” Leia somehow manages to coo while shouting. “Hashtag-Get-Lyn-Jaid-2k17!”

Jyn winces, at the volume, content _and_ misnomer, “Organa-” 

“Whatever,” Han grumbles loudly and turns his back to them.

“That’s our signal,” Leia says. “Go, go, write, write!”

Jyn says nothing, but she’s not a coward. So, with that, she writes on the wall:

 _For a good time call: 949-867-5309_.

“Damn, even your area code,” Bodhi says, then leans over to Leia and says loudly, “She must be desperate.”

“You’re going to bed,” Jyn orders him and pulls him out. “Thanks for the night, girls.” 

“Thanks for the _good time_ , Erso,” Leia says back.

Jyn rolls her eyes with a smile and pushes Bodhi out of the Millennium Falcon.


	2. 867-5309 (Cassian)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From: 867-5309  
> Let me guess. You got my number from the Falcon?  
>  _To: 867-5309_  
>  _I did._  
>  From: 867-5309  
> Well, u get some points for not sending me a picture of ur dick. So thanks for that.

Cassian Andor can’t look away from the scene before him.

“Please resist from sucking face,” Kaytoo Sofore, Cassian’s best friend and roommate, orders slightly at their fellow friends making out in the booth.

“They’re like teenagers,” Cassian says, quirking his head as a leg, perhaps Baze’s, flails on top of the table. The making out continues. “Horny, horny teenagers.”

“Oi!” Han shouts from behind the bar. “Feet off the table.”

Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus pull apart, adjusting themselves so they look more respectable.

“I can’t believe this homophobia,” Chirrut says as he pulls at his collar. At least Baze has the decency to look a bit sheepish but Chirrut is acting wronged.

“I can’t believe that you two have been married for so long and yet you go at it like beasts,” Cassian says to the older couple.

“We still got stamina,” Baze says, realistically. “The adrenaline, the _passion_ -”

“Did not ask,” Kaytoo interrupts, pulling at his drink. Cassian chuckles.

“Didn't ask you guys to interrupt us,” Chirrut says, his hand finding Baze’s easily. “Life works in mysterious ways.”

“Not this again,” Cassian says, sounding exasperated but smiling internally. He personally doesn't believe in much, but Chirrut is deeply spiritual and very optimistic. He can appreciate it some days, but today is not one of them.

“Always and again,” Chirrut says and drinks his beer. “Are you still depressed about Alema?”

Immediately, Cassian scowls and downs the rest of his ale.

“Ninety-five percent chance your deduction is accurate,” Kaytoo says.

Cassian glares, “We’re off the clock, asshole. You can drop the schtick.”

“Zero percent chance of that happening,” Kaytoo says, since he's a dedicated math nerd and aspiring statistics professor. Everything is math to him, and it's all useful and it all needs to be said. 

“Then I’m getting a refill,” Cassian says, scooting himself out of the booth. “Anyone want anything?”

“Eternal glory,” Baze says.

“They don’t have that on Tuesdays,” Cassian says and just goes over to Han’s side of the bar. “One Captain’s Curse Ale, but take your time.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, kid,” Han said, even though they were about the same age. “They hounding on you to get over your ex again?”

He _really_ needs to stop spilling his guts to Han. “Yeah, they mean well-” 

“But they’re annoying,” Han finishes for him, even though that’s not (exactly) what Cassian was going to say.

Han gives him a steady onceover as he pours another drink for someone else. “Maybe you _do_ need to get laid.” 

He kicks his head back in exasperation, “Not you too.” 

“It’s not my business, except it’s _in_ my business,” Han starts, “But like it’s been a month. You could at least be getting some. You’re not ugly.” 

“I’m flattered, Solo.” 

“Fuck off,” Han says. “There were some cute girls in the bar over the weekend. A couple of Leia’s friends.” 

“Maybe I should see if Leia’s interested,” Cassian says, just for the way Han glares at him. Not that he’d ever make a move, since Han was pretty interested in his “princess.” Plus, Leia wasn't his type.

“You were saying?” Cassian says before Han can threaten him.

“It may as well have been a bachelorette party, they ordered everything pink and fruity and they kept playing drinking games. One of them even defaced my bar,” Han takes a swig at his water bottle before raising his eyebrow. “Lyn something. If you like the mysterious, brooding type, that chick might be a good match for you.” 

“A woman who would dare vandalize the Millennium Falcon?” Cassian says, sarcastically dramatic, rapping his knuckles on the counter wood. “Would never allow myself to be with such a _puta_.”

“ _Necesitas una novia,_ ” Han says, fluent in Spanish, English, and several other languages Cassian is a bit too drunk to name.

“ _Tu necesitas irte_ ,” Cassian says back. “ _Donde’sta mi cerveza_?” 

“You told me to take my time, asshole. So I’m taking my time,” Han makes a big show of cleaning a dirty mug. 

Cassian sighs, “ _I’ll_ deface this godforsaken bar next if you don’t-” 

“Just for that, I’ll have Chewie bring your drink out for you,” Han pulls the mug Cassian was using down below the bar as he refers to his business partner. “And I’ll take my damn time.” 

“You’re a bastard,” Cassian says with a sneer, but his tipsy smile is peeking through.

“Have fun, Andor,” Han says.

Cassian knows when he’s dismissed and goes back to the table.

“Where’s your drink?” Baze asks.

“They’re bringing it out-”

“Doesn’t matter, it’s not important to the big picture,” Chirrut interrupts, waving his hand flippantly. 

Cassian almost doesn’t ask, but might as well since his blind mentor will explain anyway, “And what _is_ the big picture?” 

“We have found you a hookup,” Chirrut says. “Baze said there’s a phone number on the wall here. You should call it.” 

Cassian says nothing for a moment, then bursts into laughter. He laughs so hard his stomach hurts and tears well in his eyes. “Thank you for that, I haven’t laughed like that in ages.”

“We were not kidding,” Kaytoo says. “Or they were not, I did not planning on being involved.”

“How drunk are you all?” Cassian looks at each of them.

“Not drunk enough, little brother,” Baze says with a wink.

“I’m not going to call the number of someone on a wall,” Cassian says obviously.

“Of course not,” Chirrut says. “First of all, no one calls anymore. Second, you’re not nearly drunk enough.”

“I'll never be drunk enough,” Cassian says.

Of course, three drinks and two shots later, he's lapsed into Silly Drunk Cassian category, cackling and typing the number into his phone.

“Just text her ‘u up?’” Kaytoo suggests. “That is the most common hookup text.”

“No-no-no-no-no,” Cassian says. “Gotta have a contact first. A name.”

“She didn't write one on the wall,” Baze says, peering at the spot where it's written. “Just Good Time.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Chirrut says. “Just text her a picture of your dick.”

“No,” Cassian says and texts her.

_To: 867-5309_

_Hey, how’s it going?_

When all three of them hear the _whoosh_ of the text being sent, he holds his phone out.

“‘Hey, how’s it going?’” Baze reads aloud for Chirrut’s benefit.

“There is only a twenty-three percent chance of that getting you laid,” Kaytoo says.

“Fuck off,” Cassian tells him and pulls his phone back to send her another text.

“Oh no, refrain from double-texting,” Kaytoo starts, but it’s too late. Cassian is double-texting.

_To: 867-5309_

_Did you know that goldfish don’t have stomachs?_

He shows them the new text.

“Is that accurate?” Baze asks after he reads it aloud.

“Yes it is,” Cassian and Kaytoo say at once. 

“But it won’t get you laid,” Chirrut says. “And I thought that was the whole point.”

His phone beeps with a text and he gasps and looks at the new message.

_**From: 867-5309** _

_**Let me guess. You got my number from the Falcon?** _

_To: 867-5309_

_I did._

_**From: 867-5309** _

_**Well, u get some points for not sending me a picture of ur dick. So thanks for that.** _

_To: 867-5309_

_Always happ to not show my dick._

_To: 867-5309_

_Wait_

_To: 867-5309_

_No, I stand by that dicks can bw weird._

“You are an embarrassment,” Kaytoo says, smacking his shoulder. “Desist.”

“No.”

“Perhaps we should have had him call her,” Chirrut muses. “That might be less embarrassing.”

_**From: 867-5309** _

_**Is that thing abt goldfish true?** _

_To: 867-5309_

_It is._

_**From: 867-5309** _

_**Consider me impressed.** _

She doesn’t say anything else. Before he can text one more time, Kaytoo takes his phone from him.

“I am assisting you,” Kaytoo says when Cassian throws himself at his best friend to try and grab it back. “Stop resisting.”

Cassian falls back against the booth with a pout, but then the phone dings. He grabs it from Kaytoo’s hand and reads the new message.

_**From: 867-5309** _

_**But how do they eat?** _

_**From: 867-5309** _

_**The goldfish I mean** _

_To: 867-5309_

_I dont kno I didn’t get that far_

_**From: 867-5309** _

_**You’ve got me curious now. I’m glad I waited on changing my number.** _

_To: 867-5309_

_Me to_

And then he remembers emojis exist and he starts sending her emojis.

“How many texts is he sending her?” Chirrut asks, hearing all the swooshes of sent messages.

“I will break your phone if you do not relinquish it,” Kaytoo says after Cassian has sent the person many different emojis. 

Cassian sighs and gives his phone over.

“See? He’s desperate,” Chirrut says.

“Shut up,” Cassian mumbles, and goes to rest his head on the table because suddenly he feels very tired. 

"And he's out," Baze says, though Cassian can barely hear it through the haze that is his head. "C'mon, Kaytoo help me out."

And then Cassian is out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still getting a hang of how to format the texting, so please let me know if you have any ideas or recommendations to make it clearer.


	3. I know you think I'm like the others before (Jyn)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you gonna text him back?” Bodhi asks, mouth full.
> 
> Jyn sets her phone down, “No.”
> 
> “C’mon, do it, I dare you.”
> 
> “Daring me to do stupid shit is what got me into this mess,” She says and goes back to eating.
> 
> “Oh, I get it, you’re chicken,” Bodhi says.

Jyn stares at her phone. More specifically, she’s studying the texts that the guy (she assumes guy since he messaged he had a dick but hey women have dicks too) sent her last night.

She had genuinely been planning to change her phone number after the past week. She’s gotten so many dick pics and so many gross messages. She’s tried to block them all, but her phone has a limit to how many people she can block and she’s getting frustrated.

She gets a text and she’s about to throw her phone at the wall just to get it all to _stop_ when she sees it’s from Bodhi.

_From: Bodhi Rook The House_

_Can we grab food? Need 2 get out of the house_

Jyn winces in sympathy and texts him she’s on her way. She throws on her favorite jacket over her pajamas and drives to his house.

He's silent as they drive to their favorite diner. Only after they order does Jyn dare to speak.

“So I got a weird text last night at two in the morning from one of the many visitors of MillFal,” She says as she refers to Han’s bar with the nickname he hates the most for it.

“Please don't show me another dick pic,” He says with a world-weary smile. She keeps sending him screenshots of her best responses. And, unfortunately for him, that means including the dick sometimes.

“I can't suffer alone,” She says as a joke then realizes how heavy it is as he frowns at his cup of coffee. So she changes the subject, “Lucky for you, there were no cocks involved.”

“So what was involved?”

“Goldfish.”

“Like the crackers?”

Since it'd be too weird to verbally explain, she shows him the texts from the guy who she's since dubbed Bar Nerd as the contact so she doesn’t accidentally delete it.

“But how do they eat?” He asks her, scrolling through.

“Exactly my question, you'll see,” She says, popping bread into the toaster that the diner has set up on their table.

“What's with all the emojis?” Bodhi asks as he hands her back his phone.

“Guessing he was drunk,” Jyn says as she butters toast. “I mean, it _is_ the best bar near campus.”

“What if he's like super old and creepy?” Bodhi says.

“Maybe,” She says. “I _have_ seen a lot of wrinkly dicks in my messages-”

“Stop,” He orders her with a chuckle. “You're the worst.”

“Eat me,” She banters back as the waiter brings them their food.

Bodhi grabs his silverware. “I'd rather eat these pancakes.”

So with that, they eat in silence. Until Jyn can't hold it in any longer and finally asks, “Do you want to talk about it? Why- why you needed a break?”

“Nah,” He says it without looking at her, focused on pressing a pancake bite into syrupy butter.

She purses her lips in thought then says, “I’m gonna Google it.”

“Google what?”

“The stomach thing with the goldfish, it practically kept me up all night,” She says. “Besides the barrage of texts, of course.”

“Of course,” Bodhi says as she taps away on her phone.

“Okay, so they don’t have stomachs, but their other organs do that function,” She says and starts to eat her own French toast.

“I am now more informed,” He says and then her phone buzzes in her hand. “One dollar it’s a dick pic.”

“You lose, it’s a text from the person last night,” She says and opens it up when she sees ‘Bar Nerd’ has a new message.

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**I just woke up from the worst hangover ever and I want to apologize for my shitty friends** _

“Are you gonna text him back?” Bodhi asks, mouth full.

Jyn sets her phone down, “No.”

“C’mon, do it, I dare you.”

“Daring me to do stupid shit is what got me into this mess,” She says and goes back to eating.

“Oh, I get it, you’re chicken,” Bodhi says.

She looks up at him and glares, but she does text Bar Nerd again.

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Did they steal your phone and send me over fifty texts of random emojis?_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**They weren’t random it was code.** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_I’m not a spy._

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Fine, it wasn’t code, and I was the one texting you. But they made me.** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Peer pressure is a serious epidemic these days_

“You’re sending so many, what do they say?” Bodhi interrupts her texting conversation. 

She holds her phone out for him to see. He reads.

“You're such a shit,” He says, shaking his head.

“At least I don't text random numbers at bars,” Jyn points out.

“No, you just write your number on them,” Bodhi says and she throws a piece of toast at him.

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Also I was drunk** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_What a coincidence, so was I when I wrote my #_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Solo is too good at his job** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Who?_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Solo._ **

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Han Solo?_ **

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_The owner of the Millennium Falcon?_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Oh Han_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**You don't know Han?** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_I didn't know his last name. I go to bars to drink in silence._

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Then why don't just drink at home?** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Apparently that's alcoholism_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

**_Haha_ **

“Wow, you are so desperate,” Bodhi chuckles with his mouth full. She looks up and raises an eyebrow. He explains, “I think you’re texting this guy more than you’ve texted me and I’ve known you since you were six.”

“Maybe you should learn some goldfish facts and then you’ll be interesting,” She says. He sticks his tongue out at her. She puts her phone away. “So what’s your schedule like next semester?”

“Just major stuff and one gen-ed,” Bodhi says. “I think it’s the writing credit. I want to design airplanes and be a pilot, why do I gotta write things?”

Jyn shrugs, “Being well-rounded or some shit, I dunno.”

“What about you?”

“Two major classes,” She says, not bothering to hide the way she crinkles her nose. “One art and one literature class.”

“I hate lit classes,” Bodhi says. “I don't want to read that stuff. I want to read stuff _I_ like.”

“You mean biographies of the Hudson River plane crash guy and conspiracy theories about Amelia Earhart?”

“At least I'm studying what I want to,” Bodhi says.

And Jyn, who’s been faking nice and pleasant with her parents all break, snaps.

“How fucking fantastic for you,” Jyn says, unable to help the harsh tone.

They both say nothing. They don’t even eat the amazing, greasy diner food in front of them.

“That was harsh, I'm sorry,” They both say at the same time and then smirk at each other.

“Eat your pancakes,” She orders, instead of saying 'I"m sorry.'

“Yes ma'am,” He says with a smile. She throws another slice of toast at him. But they’re okay. Just like always.


	4. I know you think I'm like the others before (Cassian)

Cassian sits propped up in the apartment’s living room on Christmas Eve, reading Henry David Thoreau. He uses one of his favorite annotating pens for notes in the margins, even though it just reads like chicken scrawl.

This semester, he’s TA-ing for Professor Draven, who just managed to send Cassian the lesson plans, complete with a two page list of books he needs to have intelligible thoughts on by mid-January.

Normally, he’d be out with Kaytoo, Baze, and Chirrut but Kaytoo flew home for the holidays this year and Baze surprised Chirrut with tickets to a blind-friendly Broadway show up in New York. Cassian’s family is back home but he plans on calling them tonight and Skyping them tomorrow morning as they all open presents.

Even then, he’s kind of glad he’s alone because he’ll need the entire break to catch up.

His phone buzzes and he goes to silence it, but sees the contact name is “Good Time” and he near-blushes when he remembers putting that in while hungover. He considers going to change it but that's when he sees the text.

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Do you ever feel like the odd one out in your family?_ **

He’s surprised, and takes a moment to sip from his cold coffee before he types out a response.

_To: Good Time_

_What made you ask me?_

She doesn’t respond for a long moment.

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Ur right. Forget I asked_ **

Shit. He quickly types out a response.

_To: Good Time_

_I didn’t mean it like that._

She doesn’t respond. So he decides to just answer her question.

_To: Good Time_

_Sometimes. They don’t really like my major. But they’ve gotten better with it_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Ah, so you ARE a student. I was afraid you were an old man._ **

_To: Good Time_

_I could be an old man, going back to school for my degree._

**_From: Good Time_ **

_**If that’s the case, congrats on going back for your degree. Be careful of ur hip.** _

_To: Good Time_

_Haha_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Why don’t ur parents like ur major?_ **

Cassian pauses and looks at the book on his lap. He should be reading, but he’s been reading all day. And obviously Good Time needs to talk. So he sets his book aside.

_To: Good Time_

_They’re a bit traditional and want me to have a major that’ll lead to a job._

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Nothing will lead to a job these days._ **

_To: Good Time_

_Good point. I’ll try that next time._

_To: Good Time_

_Do your parents not like your major?_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_They do I don’t. They picked it for me._ **

_To: Good Time_

_What do you want to do then?_

The texting bubble shows up for a while, but he gets a short text in response.

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Tbh not sure. But I want to find out._ **

_To: Good Time_

_You will._

There’s another pause, and he wonders if said something wrong but he gets a new message.

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Thanks. I appreciate it._ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Bet u didnt expect an existential crises from a girl who wrote her number on a bar wall_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Well I bet you didn’t expect goldfish facts from a guy who drunk-texted a girl who wrote her number on the wall_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Haha it was great._ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_As long as it’s not a dick *ok emoji*_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Jesus, how many have you gotten?_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_I counted 40 in the first two days. And then I stopped counting._ **

Cassian chokes on his coffee.

_To: Good Time_

_Holy shit._

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_I’m trying to be optimistic but like_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_It’s so many dicks._ **

_To: Good Time_

_I probably wouldn’t be optimistic either_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_I’ve made a game. It’s a shitty game but its a game_ **

_To: Good Time_

_What do you do?_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_I just send them back bigger dick pics I find on the Internet_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Does that work?_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Surprisingly well. I can prove it_ **

He’s never texted back so quickly in his life.

_To: Good Time_

_No thanks_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_I’ll spare you._ **

**_From: Good Time:_ **

**_I gotta say, u text a lot better sober._ **

_To: Good Time_

_I try. When I’m drunk, I don’t._

**_From: Good Time_ **

_**Makes sense. Especially for an English major.** _

Even though they’d just talked about it, he’s flattered she remembered.

_To: Good Time_

_Good grammar is a benefit for English majors. Reading a ton of books is too._

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_A ton of books? Shit I have a lit class next semester. How am I going to survive?_ **

_To: Good Time_

_You read the books._

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_That’s entirely unrealistic. Blocked._ **

And then he laughs, and he keeps texting Good Time for at least an hour, talking about school and the Millennium Falcon and how Han needs to work on his customer service skills. Before he knows it, it’s Christmas.

_To: Good Time_

_Oh hey it's midnight. Merry Christmas_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Oh shit ur right. Merry Christmas, Bar Nerd._ **

_To: Good Time_

_“Bar Nerd”? Is that what I am in your phone???_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_...no_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Jesus Christ._

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_You texted me facts while drunk I maintain that it’s a good contact name_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Whatever._

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Fine then, what’s my contact name?_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Good Time_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Omg really? I like it._ **

_To: Good Time_

_That makes one of us._

**_From: Good Time_ **

_**Well, too bad I like yours so I’m not changing it.** _

_To: Good Time_

_I suppose I can live with it._

_To: Good Time_

_Merry Christmas, Good Time_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Merry Christmas Bar Nerd_ **


	5. Price of a dime (Jyn)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you still texting that goldfish guy?” 
> 
> “His name is Bar Nerd,” She corrects, sipping wine like a pompous ass. “And yes.”

Jyn sits in Krennic’s house, ready to blow her brains out. Thankfully, Orson Krennic is a diehard, cruel conservative so he has five guns, and that’s just in his library where she’s hiding with Bodhi.

Jyn’s father works for Krennic’s company, having relocated from their England countryside to the American South to do it, and so did Bodhi’s foster parents, who are utter assholes.  

Krennic likes to prove how rich he is, so their families been forced to a lot of stuffy parties in this mansion over the years. Luckily, Jyn and Bodhi learned all the best places to hide. Her favorite is the basement since Krennic has extra wine down there, but he likes the library since it’s quiet and it’s easier to pretend they’re not looking for trouble. And Bodhi won the coin toss, so there they were.

“I can’t think of a better way to spend New Year’s,” She says sarcastically, gulping down red wine that might cost more than her tuition.

She’s kicked off her heels, so she’s left in only a light blue sweater, black skirt and silver tights. Bodhi’s loosened his dark green tie and he’s thankfully relaxing a bit.

“I actually wish I was back at school,” Bodhi says, curled up on a chair like a cat.

“Me too,” Jyn says, partially lying. She doesn’t like university as much as Bodhi does. “Or at least the Falcon.”

“Yes, the Falcon,” Bodhi smiles for the first time that night. “Are you still texting that goldfish guy?” 

“His name is Bar Nerd,” She corrects, sipping wine like a pompous ass. “And yes.” She wishes she was texting him right now, but she's sure he has better things to do than text her on New Year's Eve.

“You really _are_ desperate.” 

“I will throw red wine on that blouse of yours.” 

“Good, then maybe I can leave,” Bodhi says.

“Oh no,” Jyn sits up, indignant. “If I have to be here, so do you.”

Bodhi kicks his head back with a groan, “Can you believe that I actually miss fluid mechanics?” 

“Yes, because you’re a geek.” 

Before he can respond, the door opens and Lyra, Jyn’s mother, rushes in. “It’s nearing midnight, you know that Krennic won’t appreciate having you out of the ballroom.” Yes, his house has a ballroom.

Lyra helps Jyn out of her chair, wearing an elegant floor-length gown that she keeps adjusting after. Her mother’s way more at home in a pair of slacks and sweater. 

“I don’t want to kiss that old bastard,” Jyn gripes, downing the rest of her wine in front of her. Luckily, her mother feels the same way about Krennic that her daughter and Bodhi do and understands.

“You won’t,” Lyra promises. “Now get on your shoes and go be social. We have to keep up appearances.”

 _We have to keep up appearances._ How long has Jyn been hearing that one?

Bodhi and Jyn share a beleaguered look as she slips back into her heels. Together, they walk back out into the fray, Lyra immediately leaving them to find Galen. She’s about to say something disparaging when someone shouts, “One minute until midnight!” Thank Christ, they can leave soon.

“Do you think if I shout ‘I’m gay’ they’ll kick me out?” Bodhi whispers in her ear.

“Gay privilege,” Jyn nudges him with her elbow as they enter Krennic’s Ballroom.

“Must be good for something,” Bodhi sighs and then says, “Oh no” under his breath as Krennic approaches them.

“Jyn, Rook, always a joy to see you,” Krennic says, holding a lowball glass in his hand.

Jyn thinks of her mother and says politely, “Thank you for inviting us to your party, Mr. Krennic.”

“Oh please, call me Orson,” Krennic says.

Jyn and Bodhi just smile awkwardly. Neither of them want to humanize him. 

“It’s almost midnight,” Krennic says as the T-minus ten countdown starts, swirling whatever alcohol remains in his glass. He gives her a onceover. “Have you found someone to kiss, Miss Erso?”

Jyn only has a split second to react.

“Yep.”

And with that, she grabs Bodhi by the nape of his neck and pulls him down for a bruising kiss just as people shout “One!”

Jyn keeps Bodhi’s face smushed against hers until she sees Krennic walk off.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt gayer,” Bodhi says, shoving at her.

She shoves him back, “Dick.”

“You didn’t even _ask_ -”

“Was I supposed to kiss that wrinkled prick?” Jyn defends her action.

Bodhi purses his lips to the side and glares at Krennic’s retreating form, “No. But... _ew_.” 

Jyn goes to retort but her phone buzzes and she quickly goes for where she hid it in her spanx.

_From: Bar Nerd_

_Happy New Year, Good Time._

She smiles.

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Happy New Year, Bar Nerd._

“Oh my god, are you texting that guy-”

“Don’t make me kiss you again,” Jyn cuts her gaze to glare up at him.

Bodhi just holds up two hands placatingly. She playfully goes to kiss him again but he just shoves her away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my finals are coming up so I may not be able to update as frequently but I promise to keep updating! If I don't, yell at me on tumblr @jynsanity lol.


	6. Price of a dime (Cassian)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick little update as finals make me break down into tears. I promise to have a longer chapter next time around, but enjoy the spiritassassin!

Cassian sits in the Millennium Falcon, nursing a beer in one hand and spinning his phone on the table with the other. 

Baze and Chirrut are supposed to be meeting him there, but they're late. As always. 

It buzzes and he studies the text.

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_I have an English class when the semester starts up. Any tips?_ **

_ To: Good Time _

_ Well, you need to proofread your essays for one. _

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Unrealistic_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Blocked._ **

_ To: Good Time _

_ Why do you do this? Again? _

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Idk_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

_**I have to like ACTUALLY re-read them? After writing the bullshit in the first place?** _

_ To: Good Time _

_ Yep.  _

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Ugh. And u picked this for your job? Why?_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_If u don’t mind me asking_ **

_ To: Good Time _

_ I don’t mind _

Cassian sends that text then pauses in thought. After four years in undergrad and one year into his grad school degree, he hasn’t really asked himself that question in ages.

_ To: Good Time _

_ Reading was always a great escape of mine. And being able to teach people what makes books so... good is a really cool thing for me.  _

_ To: Good Time _

_ Plus, books have this power to change things, and I don’t think people give them enough credit. Like Uncle Tom’s Cabin or To Kill a Mockingbird or hell Harry Potter, like books can change and cause people to think without realizing it. _

_ To: Good Time _

_ Shit, that’s a lot. Sorry. _

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_No, that’s really cool. I never thought of it like that._ **

Cassian smiles at his phone and suddenly hands are on his shoulders and then touching his face. He sighs.

“I'm certain this is Cassian,” Chirrut says, fingers and palms caressing over him. “But he's smiling. Baze, is Cass actually smiling? Or am I groping a stranger?”

“You’re definitely groping someone,” Cassian says, trying to tilt his face away from the onslaught.

“It’s Cassian,” Baze says, pulling Chirrut into the booth. “I believe he’s texting the girl on the bar wall.”   


"How did you know?"  


Baze just shrugs. Sometimes, he is just as enigmatic as his husband.

Chirrut taps his fingers on the wall, “How romantic.”   


“Sure,” Cassian placates. “How was Broadway?”   


“It was fantastic,” Chirrut says, a wide smile on his face. “The music, the sounds, it was everything. Baze even liked it too.”   


“No, I didn’t,” Baze says.

“Sure he did,” Chirrut says, now touching his husband’s face. “See, he’s smiling about it.”   


Cassian rolls his eyes and says, “You two are gross.”   


“And happily married,” Baze agrees.

“And smiling,” Chirrut says, drilling a finger into Baze’s lip corner while smiling himself.


	7. I try to call (Jyn)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Braids turns around to say emphatically, “Well, apparently, the Professor is boring as hell and super old, but he mostly lets his TA teach the class and he's hot as hell and like only a little old.”
> 
> “Cool, either of them any good?”
> 
> “No idea,” Braids says and turns back, bouncing excitedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys called who Jyn’s lit TA is ever since I first mentioned it bc who was it gonna be? Kaytoo? I think not;)

Jyn steps into her Revolutionary Lit class on the first day to see lots of girls and a few boys sitting in the front row. So many people weren’t hiding in the back. It was such an opposite to her normal experience.

“What's happening?” Jyn asks Braids, happy to see a familiar face (even though the face in her memory is blurry from the alcohol.)

“Don't you read RateMyProfessor?” She asks obviously.

Jyn doesn't care that much about what a bunch of anonymous online trolls think. Plus, the course is a requirement so she might as well just deal with whatever cards she gets.

But Jyn says none of that and just shakes her head as she sits right behind Braids.

Braids turns around to say emphatically, “Well, _apparently_ , the Professor is boring as hell and super old, but he mostly lets his TA teach the class and _he's_ hot as hell and like only a little old.”

“Cool, either of them any good?”

“No idea,” Braids says and turns back, bouncing excitedly.

 _K cool_.

Jyn pulls out her phone and decides to text Bar Nerd, since Braids is too engrossed in a hypothetically attractive teaching assistant.  

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Have any fun trivia for me?_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Almost 500 million goldfish are sold per year, making them the most popular pet.** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_That's insane. No way that's true._

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**I can't believe you ask me for trivia then tell me it's not true.** _

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**I'm doing you a favor** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Fine I'll believe u for now. Especially since u kno so much abt goldfish._

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Why do u kno that stuff anyway?_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**My roommate and I got drunk one night and we googled facts.** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Why goldfish?_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

**_Our goldfish had just died._ **

Jyn, unable to help it, snorts a little. That was _not_ the answer she was expecting. But she smothers her mouth with her hand and texts.

_To: Bar Nerd_

_That’s awful. I’m sorry._

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**I mean I was fine but my roommate was devastated.** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Really?_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Yes. Normally he’s like a robot but he was drowning his sorrows in booze.** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Over a goldfish?_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Obviously you’ve never had a goldfish.** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Lol u got me there_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

**_Shit I gotta go to class. I’ll text you later._ **

Jyn straightens slightly at this. Normally, they don’t make, like, _plans_ to text it just kind of happens.

But she realizes she’s smiling so she quickly fixes her face and texts Bar Nerd back.

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Talk to u then_

At that moment, the door opens and a man in his forties or fifties walks in. He’s wearing a casual suit and he looks professional and pasty. With a sigh, Jyn shoves her phone in her pocket as she clocks him as boring and strict.

“Hello, students,” He says. “I’m Professor Davits Draven and this is Revolutionary Literature. Now, I know some of you might have signed up for this class with the notion that this would cover literature written during the American Revolutionary War, and while it will, it will also cover so much more.”

Jesus. Christ.

“I try not to adhere to American-centric ideals so I will also be talking about other works from other countries during their own times of rebellion. I will pass out a list of required texts, as soon as my assistant arrives-”

The door swings open and a man walks in. Much younger than Draven, this one is tan and handsome and wearing a plaid shirt with dark jeans, looking laidback yet... oddly somehow powerful.

The entire class swoons.

She is not exempt from that.

“Sorry, Professor,” The man says, shuffling papers in his hands. “Problems with the printer.”

“No worries, perfect timing, you can pass those out,” Draven continues on. “This is my teaching assistant, Cassian Andor. Since I am working on a committee to help graduate students with their Master's degrees, he will be the one to lead discussions for certain lectures and read the papers that are less than five pages-”

_More than five page essays?_

Jyn slumps a little in her seat as she gets the double-sided list of books to read.

Maybe she should actually read RateMyProfessor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished my research essay so I rewarded myself by writing this chapter. Hope you guys like it!


	8. For A Good Time Text

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To: Good Time
> 
> Roald Dahl’s last words were “Ow fuck”
> 
> From: Good Time
> 
> Omg really?
> 
> To: Good Time
> 
> Really
> 
> From: Good Time
> 
> A true icon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to write some cute scenes of Jyn and Cassian texting each other so here you go! (P.S. the computer help in this chapter is fucking bullshit I know less than nothing about computers)

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_I learned a new goldfish fact_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Where do u find these?_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_The internet_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Ofc_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_What is it?_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Goldfish don’t blink_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_U kno I wasnt afraid of goldfish before u_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Haha come on, this is fascinating_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_This is terrifying. Those demon fish dont have stomachs and they dont blink wtf_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_They don’t even blink when they sleep_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_I can’t believe u had one of these in ur home_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Again, roommate’s idea_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Lol fine I guess_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Are there any GOOD goldfish facts?_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Hmm_ **

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_There are hundreds of varieties of goldfish around the world_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_That’s pleazant I guess_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_*Pleasant_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_What was ur fish’s name?_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Fisher_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_What_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_U named ur fish Fisher??_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

_**Again-again, roommate’s idea.** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Is ur roommate a toddler who doesnt kno how to name things?_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Fisher was named after Ronald Fisher, a statistician_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Omg really_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Ur kidding_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Sadly I am not_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Hopefully u get to name the next fish_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_And hopefully something better_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_First of all, the wound from our previous loss is still too fresh_ **

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Secondly, I’m going to name our new fish Goldman, for author of The Princess Bride, William Goldman._ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Theres no hope for either of u_

_+_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Goddamit, I got another fucking dick pic_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

_**Thats the fourth fuckin one in the past hour** _

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Oh shit ur probabky asleep its like 2 in the morning_ **

_To: Good Time_

_I’m awake, reading over a friend of mine’s dissertation_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Sorry to bother_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Don’t worry, I need a break. What’s happening?_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_The dick is wearing a napkin_ **

_To: Good Time_

_... That isn’t exactly what I meant but what the fuck?_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_I KNO RIGHT_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Who the fuck puts a napkin on their dick?_ **

_To: Good Time_

_I don’t want to know_

_To: Good Time_

_And please don’t forward me the picture_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Don’t worry, I’m not curuel_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_*Cruel, dammit I can’t splell I’m mtoo angry_ **

_To: Good Time_

_I can send you another fun fact. To distract you._

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Id love that_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_But can it not be goldfish this time? I’m still scarred from before_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Haha fair enough_

_To: Good Time_

_Give me a second then, I haven’t memorized anything else._

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Both impressive and sad._ **

_To: Good Time_

_Hey, don’t bite the hand that feeds you._

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Right, sorry, thank u_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Okay, found something._

_To: Good Time_

_Roald Dahl’s last words were “Ow fuck”_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Omg really?_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Really_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_A true icon. I loved his books growing up_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Me too._

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_I wish there was a literature class here that taught only his books instead of dumb stuff_ **

_To: Good Time_

_I promise, as an inspiring literature professor, to teach at least a seminar_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Good_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_And thx for the distraction_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_OH MY GOD NOW THIS ONE IS IN A DONUT????_ **

_To: Good Time_

_What the fuck?!_

_+_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_You know computer stuff right?_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_I guess_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Aren’t you a computer programming student?_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_No one ever truly KNOS computers_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Please help me, my laptop is screaming at me_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_No way its actuall screaming?_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_It screams_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Have u tried turning it off n turnin it on again?_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_The button won’t go down. The button won’t button_ **

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_What do I do?_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Okay, grab your smallest pair of screwdrivers and open up the back of ur computer. Its prob ur fan or ur battery._

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Take out the battery, wait five seconds, then put it back in._

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Then, keep ur computer off and put it in a cool area. It’s overheated. As soon as u can, take it to a tech place and get them to clean ur fan._

_To: Bar Nerd_

_For now, just stop charging it after its 100 percent and keeping it on ur lap._

_To: Bar Nerd_

_...u still there?_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Yeah, just finishing up._ **

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Thank you so much, the screaming has stopped._ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Well i don’t pay Too Much Money to not be good at this_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Thank you_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Anytime._

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_How did you know I keep my computer on my lap?_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_U probably write so I guessed_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Nice inductive reasoning_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_I’m the new Sherlock_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_I’d watch that adaption._ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_I’d be in it if u write it_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_I’m not *that* kind of writer_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Too bad_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_:(_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Haha fine_ **

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_As payment for fixing my computer, I’ll write it._ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_:D_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Why don’t you just use the emojis?_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_I think u use enough emojis for the both of us_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_I will never live that down will I?_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Nope_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_Fair enough_ **

+

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Did u know that Edgar Allan Poe originally wanted a parrot to say “nevermore”?_ **

_To: Good Time_

_No way_

_To: Good Time_

_That’s insane. Is that true?_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_It’s on the internet so it must be true_ **

_To: Good Time_

_I feel like everything I learned in Gothic Lit was a lie. The raven was a metaphor for death and all that stuff._

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Yea a parrot isn’t a metaphor for anything but annoyingness_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Why are you googling parrot facts?_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Not parrot facts. Literature facts._ **

_To: Good Time_

_Why literature facts?_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_I’m pretending this is the same as doing my reading fr my literature class_ **

_To: Good Time_

_I can assure you it is not_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Too bad, its way more fun than reading like actual books_ **

_To: Good Time_

_You’re breaking my heart_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_It’s not my fault books are boring_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Now you’re twisting the knife in_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Ur so dramatic_ **

_To: Good Time_

_It’s the literature_

_-_

**_From: K2 (Kaytoo Sofore)_ **

**_Cassian, can you please stop using your phone in the restaurant? It is very rude._ **

_To: K2 (Kaytoo Sofore)_

_You could just say that to my face._

**_From: K2 (Kaytoo Sofore)_ **

**_Not likely, since you have been ignoring my attempts at conversation for five minutes now._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so, so much for all the kind comments!! I've had a rough couple days and your comments have brightened my day, I love and appreciate you all!


	9. I try to call (Cassian)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A CHAPTER! WITH PLOT! AnD ANGST! Hope you guys like!

Cassian Andor is drunk off his ass. It’s a Sunday night, two weeks into the semester, and Kaytoo is off with the professor he TAs to see a TEDtalk on applying statistics in finance and honestly Cassian would rather be there than deal with what’s in his face.

_One (1) Missed call and One (1) voicemail from “Alema DONT CALL HER”_

Cassian rubs at his face but just accidentally hits himself in the eye with the tequila bottle.

“Ah fuck,” He tells himself and lets himself smack the table.

Chirrut and Baze are doing something coupley, Han probably isn’t paid enough to deal with him being drunk outside the bar but Cassian doesn’t trust himself to not call Alema

“But who?” He asks himself. 

It strikes him like lightning and he falls off his chair to land on the floor and grab his phone to call Good Time.

Just as he pulls up her contact, he hesitates. Maybe he shouldn’t call. That would be weird, right?

With that, he fumbles for the message button and starts texting.

_To: Good Time_

_Heyh_

_To: Good Time_

_Whats up_

_To: Good Time_

_Im not druk_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Well, then u fooled me.** _

_To: Good Time_

_If I wa drunk coukd I d athis_

Cassian tries to do a push-up but then loses traction on his hands and his knees due to his post-Alema sweatpants. As he hits the ground with an oof, his phone dings with a text tone. He grabs his phone and (blurrily) reads it.

_**From: Good Time** _

_**...** _

_**From: Good Time** _

_**What did u do?** _

_To: Good Time_

_Tried to do a pishup_

_To: Good Time_

_But if ailed_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**U doing ok?** _

_To: Good Time_

_No_

The texting bubble-thing happens for a bit before a response and he finds himself on edge.

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Wanna talk abt it?** _

_To: Good Time_

_Not yet_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Fair enough** _

_To: Good Time_

_But u shuld talk k_

Drunk and idiotic, he's struck by the sudden urge to know what Good Time’s voice is.

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Ok I'll give this a try_ **

_**From: Good Time** _

_**I think I’m gonna try to take more graphic design classes next year** _

_To: Good Time_

_Re all?_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Yeah. I like art and I know too much abt computers so this might be fun** _

His eyes are blurry but he makes himself read each letter.

_To: Good Time_

_That’s cool_

_To: Good Time_

_Im hap for u_

_**From: Good Time** _

**_Thanks_ **

_To: Good Time_

_Her anme was Alema_

Shit. He hadn’t meant to say that. He goes to try to delete the text he’s already sent but got the SCHWOOP sound so too late. It’s too late.

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Who?** _

_To: Good Time_

_My ex. Hr name was Alema_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Ah** _

_To: Good Time_

_We datd for 2 ys but she dumpt me for a professor_

_To: Good Time_

_Who was like do okddd_

_To: Good time_

_Olddddd_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Eek** _

_To: Good Time_

_Yes!!! Eek!! It aad xbad_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**I bet** _

_To: Good Time_

_To fucking years amd she does this to me and mbeaks my heart_

_To: Good Time_

_I want t o be oer it_

_To: Good Time_

_But imnot_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**You don’t have to be** _

_To: Good Time_

_My friends athink so_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**I mean** _

_**From: Good Time** _

**_Ugh ok fair warning im BAD at this_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

_**But isn’t it more important what u think?** _

Cassian pauses, flopped on the floor and he thinks about what he just read. Good Time has a point. But so do his friends.

_To: Good Time_

_I think i nedd to get as voer her_

_To: Good Time_

_But ID ont knk how ?_

Cassian sighs and sets his phone by his head and just waits as text sounds happen beside him. He doesn’t know what he’d say to whatever she’ll say.

Finally, his curiosity gets the best of him and he holds his phone up above him.

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Well it seems ur doing well with the “get drunk” stage** _

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Everyone has their own thing. I only had one real breakup but like I burned their shit and then joind a kickboxing class.** _

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Very therapeutic since i kept picturing their face** _

_To: Good Time_

_Does that work ?_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_Yep. For me anyway_ **

_**From: Good Time** _

_**U have yo find what works for u** _

_To: Good Time_

_Unraeslixcic_

_To: Good Time_

_Blcoked_

**_From: Good Time_ **

**_U tried._ **

_To: Good Time_

_I’m trying_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**That’s all u can do** _

Cassian smiles at his phone screen and then texts her once more.

_To: Good Time_

_Thank u_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Always happy to listen** _

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Or read I guess** _

To thank her, he starts texting her emojis in code.

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Oh no not this again** _

But she doesn’t know what she’s talking about so he keeps sending her emojis.

At least until he crashes mid-text.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Now we know more about the mysterious Alema!


	10. You Don't Know Me (Jyn)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, computer stuff in this is not accurate.

Jyn sits in the same seat of her Literature lecture, because creature of habit, anxiously. After talking to Bar Nerd last night, he keeps on having the texting bubble going on and off without any texts.

She’s not too concerned, because he was just sending her emojis last night, but he hasn’t texted her at all since.

Not that he _owes_ her a text. Or that she’s even _worried_ about some stranger who she’s been texting for a month. She’s just-

Worried.

Jyn stifles a groaning sigh and looks at her phone once more.

Just a text from Bodhi.

_**From: Bodhi Rook The House** _

_**MillFal tonight?** _

_To: Bodhi Rook The House_

_I’m in._

_**From: Bodhi Rook The House** _

_**Thumbs up Emoji** _

_To: Bodhi Rook The House_

_You can just USE the emoji instead of typing that u kno_

_**From: Bodhi Rook The House** _

_**And be basic? I think not Jyn** _

Jyn rolls her eyes and turns her phone facedown. But after five seconds, she just flips it over once more.

No new messages. Especially not from Bar Nerd.

She decides to distract herself so she looks at the syllabus. Draven put which dates he was unlikely to come in and today is one of those days, so of course the class is packed with people who want to stare at the TA.

It’s only been a few weeks of classes, but Andor has already made one hell of an impression. He is pretty attractive, but she doesn’t know that much else about him except he makes all the literature stuff really easy to understand.

It’s after 10 o’clock but the TA isn’t there yet. Everyone else is staring at the door, but Jyn goes back to her phone.

She taps on the desk. She taps on the phone. She resists the urge.

Her resolve crumbles.

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Hey, are you doing better?_

Ugh such good spelling _and_ personal interest, she realizes after she presses send. Why? Why is she doing this to herself?

No response from Bar Nerd.

Jyn closes her phone once more and goes back to brooding in her seat, doodling on her notebook paper.

The door opens frantically and Andor walks in. He looks a bit disheveled, scruffy and his eyes are bloodshot, and one of his buttons is undone where it shouldn’t be.

Poor guy.

“Sorry I’m late,” He begins, setting up at the front desk, somehow both lethargic and frantic. Things fall off and he grins at the class sheepishly, “I got the plague.”

Everyone laughs, some more sympathetic than others.

People are surprisingly still attentive even though Andor doesn’t look that hot. She's surprised she found herself enrapt in his discussion anyway.

Later, after class wraps up, Jyn walks to the back of the library. She and Bodhi aren’t meeting until Happy Hour (which Han serves alcohol at a discount with a surly frown) so she figured she’d kill some time out of her room. She managed to snag a single which she thought was golden (and it is) but she’s kind of feeling trapped in there. So she escaped to the library.

The library at her school is _huge_ and has a lot of computers. Which they should, because the tuition is fucking ridiculous.

She steps into the furthest lab that will hopefully be empty. It is. Just as she’s about to smirk in victory, she notices all the computer screens are blue.

Fucking fuck.

Scowling, she drops her bag to the floor and soon hits the ground herself, looking for the main wires that connect the computers together.

Her major is computer programming which is just software but her dad works in computers, both software and hardware, she’s been able to dissect a computer since she was 12.

She scoots under the main desk not unlike a mechanic would slide under a car and starts looking around through the wires. Oh, it just looks overloaded.

She fiddles around until she hears the boot-up sound happen en masse. Before she can properly congratulate herself, she hears a voice.

“What the hell are you doing?” They ask, voice calm but words deep.

In surprise, Jyn’s head shoots up and smacks into the desk. “Ah fuck,” She hisses and slides out from under to be greeted by the sight of a tall, Chinese man with a very... heavy presence. Something about him makes Jyn quiet. (Not that he seems dangerous, it’s more out of an odd respect.)

“What are you doing?” He repeats himself now that she can see him

“There was an overload,” She explains. She sits herself up on her knees. “I needed to use the computers, so I fixed it.”

The man stares at her, then looks at the computers. “I was called in to fix it. I’m Baze, the IT Guy for the university.”

He says nothing. She says nothing. She looks at him, then the computers then back at Baze The IT Guy. “Am I in trouble?”

“For doing my job for me?” He raises an eyebrow ever so slightly. “Not likely.”

Jyn lets a smile flash across her face as she stands herself up.

“Good work,” He says, looking around as all the computers now show the home screen.

“Thanks,” She says after a moment’s hesitation.

“Do you study computers?” He gestures to the building to signify the college.

“Yep, but just programming. I just know too much about hardware,” She says.

“You don’t sound too happy about it.”

“Is that any of your business?”

“No,” Baze shrugs, not offended by her tone. “But it is _yours_ .” 

She sighs, “I’m good at it.” 

“That’s important.”

“But I don’t like it,” Jyn admits, an peculiar weight falling off her shoulders at the confession to the stranger. She blames her openness on the fact she's worried about Bar Nerd. It's making her weak.

Baze looks up at the ceiling. “My husband’s better at this stuff but... You should like what you do,” He imparts.

“In a perfect world,” Jyn agrees, picking at a rip in her jeans. “I don’t have that luxury.”

“Fair enough,” Baze says then looks at the computer screens once more. “Well, you are good at it.” 

“Thanks,” She says softly.

“If you ever want to talk computer stuff, I’m in the IT office or in the literature building, first floor,” Baze offers.

“Literature building?” Jyn asks.

“My husband is a literature professor,” He explains. “I find myself over there, to make sure he stays out of trouble.”

“That’s sweet,” Jyn admits and then her phone buzzes. She looks at it, praying to any entity listening that it's not a dick pic.

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**I’m alive but at what cost** _

She smiles and quickly types back.

_To: Bar Nerd_

_I take it from ur good grammar ur sober_

**_From: Bar Nerd_ **

**_But at what cost_ **

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Lol_

She turns back to Baze. “Well, since I did your job for you and all, I might just go to the Millennium Falcon and get drunk to celebrate.”

“Allow me to buy you an appetizer,” Baze offers. “Solo has good fries.”

Immediately, her hackles raise but just as quickly they fall. She considers herself to have a good radar on people, and Baze doesn’t set anything off. Plus, he’s like 40 and gay and he’s about to buy her food.

“I’m in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	11. You Don't Know Me (Cassian)

Cassian, for reasons unbeknownst to him, walks into the Millennium Falcon during Happy Hour even though he’s _still_ battling a wicked hangover.

But Baze was meeting someone else for a drink, so Cassian is acting as Chirrut’s escort in his place.

“Is Baze already in our booth?” Chirrut asks as they enter the bar slowly, methodically.

“He is... with two others?” Cassian doesn’t mean for it to be a question, but he isn't expecting to see their friend seated with two others, much closer to Cassian’s age than Baze’s.

“Do you think Baze has found a harlot to replace me?” Chirrut asks.

“Of course not,” He doesn’t even hesitate.

“I know, but good to have it validated,” Chirrut smiles. Cassian rolls his eyes at his friend’s dramatics. “Well, then who is he with? Describe them to me.”

Cassian searches the bar until he finds Baze, who’s kind of hard to miss, sitting with two smaller people. One is a girl, a woman, with hair in a loose bun and eyeliner-rimmed eyes. She looks vaguely familiar. The other a guy with his hair also in a bun and glasses perched on his forehead, but he doesn't ring a bell at all. The three of them are laughing and sipping drinks.

“I... don’t know who they are but they look like they're having a good time.”

“Well, then introduce me. You’re a terrible guide dog.” 

“Guide dogs don’t introduce you to people,” Cassian huffs but leads his blind friend over to the booth.

Baze smiles softly at his husband and gets out of the booth to meet them as they step out.

“Jyn, Bodhi, this is my husband, Chirrut Îmwe and our friend Cassian Andor. Chirrut teaches Spiritual Literature and Cassian is a grad student going for his Masters in literature," Baze says, and Cassian figures he's never heard the man talk this much in all the time he's known him. "Chirrut, Cassian, this is Jyn Erso and Bodhi Rook.”

 _Jyn Erso._ The name is familiar. But he can’t quite place it.

“What do you study? Are you students?” Chirrut asks as they all sit down.

“I’m Jyn,” Jyn reintroduces herself. “I study computer programming, undergrad.”

“I’m Bodhi, I’m studying to be an aerospace engineer,” Bodhi says. Cassian likes that they took the time to let Chirrut get their voices.

“Lovely to meet you,” Chirrut says. “I must say that I’m impressed my husband reached out to you.”

Baze flicks him on the ear as Chirrut chuckles.

“I was doing Baze’s work for him,” Jyn says, with a smile. “And he's paying me in alcohol.”

“I paid you in fries,” Baze says gruffly. “You bought yourself the alcohol, should the cops ask.”

“You're not 21?” Cassian asks, trying to be polite but mostly he feels distracted. His fingers itch to text Good Time, since she was nice enough to check up on him earlier, but he doesn't want to be rude.

“20,” She answers. “But I was raised in England so I find the drinking age here a personal slight. Your husband, Chirrut, refused to do me a solid but the fries are good anyway.” 

“You have spark,” Chirrut says with a smile. “I appreciate that about you.”

Jyn looks unsure how to respond but then says, “Thank you.”

And Cassian decides that Jyn Erso might be a person to actually get to know.

Later, when the tab is settled and happy hour is over, they all exit the bar to their respective cars and the cold, snowy air. Chirrut and Baze leave together in their car, since Baze was DD tonight.

Jyn looks over at Bodhi as a flurry of snow swirls around them, “Why didn’t you remind me to bring a jacket?”

“Because I’m terrible,” Bodhi says, distractedly texting “a cute blond” in his class.

Jyn shivers and runs her hands over her sleeveless arms. “Jesus, I don’t normally get cold like this.”

Cassian studies her and considers possible courses of actions (Jesus, what is he, Kaytoo?)

“Must be your bitch-heart finally melting,” Bodhi says. Jyn punches him in the arm, but she’s smiling.

“That doesn’t even make _sense_ -”

“You can borrow mine,” Cassian finds himself saying. It’s not his favorite parka, just a beat up leather jacket that he’s had for ages. He doesn’t even realize what he’s doing until he’s shrugged off one sleeve.

Jyn looks over at him, and looks down at his jacket (his chest? He’ll never know).

“Thanks,” She says, one side of her lips quirked up a little. Emboldened, he takes off his jacket and hands it to her. He has a short walk to his car, and he doesn’t need the old, thrift-store jacket. Really. Even with the chill in the air. “This is an awesome jacket,” She says as she tugs it on. She’s smaller than him so it just dangles off his fingers and drifts past her hips.

“Thanks,” He says then clears his throat. “Well, I didn’t sleep last night so I’m hitting the hay.” _Hitting_ the _hay_? Yeah, he’s too hungover to function.

“Wait, when should I give you back the jacket?” Jyn asks. Bodhi starts walking away but she tugs him back.

Cassian shrugs, “I’m sure we’ll run into each other again.” He clears his throat and adds, “Chirrut and Baze like you, you’re in, so I’ll probably see you again.”

They share a smile and then Cassian goes to his car.

Later, he’s downing Gatorade to swallow an Advil (he hates taking pills) when he remembers that he hasn’t text Good Time since before he hit the Falcon.

_To: Good Time_

_How do you beat a hangover?_

He doesn’t immediately get a response, which is fine, so he takes a shower. Toweling off his hair and only wearing his boxers, he hears the text tone. He sits on his bed to answer.

_**From: Good Time** _

_**I don’t get hangovers** _

_To: Good Time_

_No way._

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Yes way I dont get em** _

_To: Good Time_

_That astounds me_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Good im a mystery** _

_To: Good Time_

_Haha_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**My friend gets them all the time bc he can’t hold his liqur just take two Advil at night and drink Gatorade.** _

Cassian looks at the pill bottle and the cap that he didn’t put back on it. Thankfully, he thinks of the fact his fridge is stocked with Gatorade because Kay loves electrolytes.

_To: Good Time_

_Good idea, thank you._

_To: Good Time_

_And thanks for listening to me last night, I really need it_

_**From: Good Time** _

**_Anytime._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THEY HAVE FINALLY FUCKING MET OH MY GOD this feels nice honestly. But they aren't together yet;)


	12. Don't change your number (Jyn)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just HAD to shoutout to TFA. I had to.

Jyn paces outside the library study room hallway, anxious for reasons she won’t let herself overanalyze. She just needs help on the thesis of an essay. Not a big deal.

She tugs at the sleeves of Cassian’s jacket. She’s not sure how she feels about the fact he didn’t recognize her when they all (accidentally) went out earlier in the week. And she hasn't seen him in class because Draven was teaching.

At least the jacket is badass and comfortable as hell.

And well, it's not like it's a big deal. He's a grad student, he probably has met a lot of people. Plus, it's not like she's bothered to make an impression by speaking up in class-

The door opens and she jumps back, nearly cursing herself. She isn't normally this skittish.

“So just don't use the n-word and the essay should be fine,” Cassian says as he leads the student out the door. Once they leave, he turns to her. “Oh, hey Jyn. C-can I help you?” He looks around slightly, like the answer will appear around her rather than her actually saying it.

“Yeah, I’m in the 10 o’clock section and I need help with an essay-”

A regretful look flashes across his face as he then grimaces in earnest. “Oh, I thought you looked familiar, come in,” He leads her in and sits down. “And sorry, I TA a couple of sections for Draven and my memory with names is terrible.”

“No worries,” Jyn says, because she is in _no_ place to lecture people on remembering names. But she has something else on her mind. “Did that white guy really plan on using the n-word in his essay? Like, academically?”

Cassian grimaces slightly, but there’s humor there. “Yeah, thankfully I talked them down from the ledge.”

“Does that happen a lot?” She asks, adjusting her bookbag.

“Not really,” Cassian says, but then backtracks. “Well, there was one instance of a male student’s analysis of a female protagonist was just her ‘being a c-word.’” The cute TA makes finger quotes. “Except, he didn’t have the tact to censor himself.”

Jyn’s eyebrows raise as she grabs her copies of the books, “How profound.”

He chuckles, “Definitely. So, what do you want to write your essay on?”

Jyn shifts slightly before answering. “I’m not a hundred percent certain. I haven’t really liked the readings so far.”

“Don’t blame you,” He says, pulling out his copies of _The Jungle_ and _Grapes of Wrath_. “These are more of the boring ones of the course, I’ll admit. But they’re correlated to the same food industry issues, so Draven put them together.”

“Makes sense,” She says. “In a ridiculous literature way.”

Cassian looks up at her. “You're a STEM major, right?”

“Yep.”

“I would have guessed,” He says, nothing cruel in his voice. When she looks up, one side of his mouth is quirked. “Literature is often ridiculous to you folks.”

“If it’s not a computer manual, it doesn’t have much use for me.” She smiles self-deprecatingly and then decides to give this whole... literature thing a shot. Maybe it’s his face or his nice voice, but she finds herself more willing than she might normally be. (Definitely more willing than if Draven had been the person she was meeting with).

“What should I do then? To not find it ridiculous.”

Cassian pauses in thought. “Well, I guess you’d have to find what makes it interesting. What interests you?”

The question oddly takes her by surprise, so she answers, “Action movies” because she and Bodhi were watching the _Indiana Jones_ trilogy (the fourth one doesn’t exist). “You know, taking down the Man and all that.”

“So rebellions?”

“I guess.”

“Well,” He taps his fingers on the cover of one of the books. “You’d have to...” He struggles for a word. “Stretch it a bit for these readings but look at _The Jungle._ It started a rebellion about how terrible the food industry is.”

“Oh right,” She says, vaguely remembering a contextual lecture that Draven gave a couple weeks ago. “And _Grapes of Wrath_ was about how terrible farmers were treated, right?”

“Exactly, and as soon as these works were published, they caused an uproar,” Cassian says. “They told a story and people listened. Granted, there wasn’t much else to do and there wasn’t a lot of fighting, but for the times, I’m sure it was badass.”

“I’m sure it was,” Jyn says with a slight smile, looking at the covers of the books with this new lens. “So, for my essay, I guess I could write about how these works proposed change.”

“You definitely could.”

“I wish they could have done it with more ass-kicking but I’ll take what I can get,” She taps on the books. “The essay has to be three pages right?”

“Three to five.”

“So three?” She gathers her things, since she wants to agreed to meet with Leia and Bodhi in the Dining Hall that evening. And she can hear the rational voice in her head telling her to get started on the essay before dinner, but she’s not sold on the idea.

He gives her a look, as she smiles innocently back at him. “You can bullshit anything for five pages, Ms. Erso.”

“I’m wearing your jacket, I think you can call me Jyn still,” She says, then catches herself. “Oh, right, you can have this back-”

One arm is nearly out of the sleeve when he shakes his head, “No, keep it, it suits you. I have another one anyway.”

Jyn pulls the sleeve back on, “Well, thank you. In payment, I should probably write a good essay.”

Cassian smiles, “I’d appreciate it.”

“Are you going to the MillFal this weekend? I’ll buy you a drink,” Jyn offers before thinking.

He gives her a onceover before responding. “I know Han isn’t so strict on this, but how about you get me mozzarella sticks so you don’t get in trouble?”

“My fake is golden,” She says defensively. “But I see what you mean. Fine, I’ll buy you mozzarella sticks in exchange for the jacket.”

“If you say it like that, I feel like I’m getting cheated,” Cassian ponders playfully.

Jyn shrugs, “At least they’ll be good mozzarella sticks. Thanks for the help, Mr. Andor.”

“If you’re going to keep my jacket, you can call me Cassian,” He says, then catches himself. “But maybe not during lectures.”

“Ruin my fun,” Jyn says sarcastically. “Have a great day, Cassian.”

“You too, Jyn.”

She leaves, wearing the jacket.

She finds Bodhi outside her dorm room, playing a game on his phone.

“Nice jacket,” He says when he looks up at her.

She rolls her eyes as she unlocks her door, “What are you doing here?”

“Annoying you, obviously,” Bodhi says as he follows her in to flop on her bed. “And my roommate is banging his girlfriend again so I figured I’d stop by.”

“I’m flattered,” Jyn drops her bag on the floor and goes to her desk to type out an outline for her essay.

“I see _Hot for TA_ has you actually working hard at Lit,” Bodhi says.

Jyn makes a face as she pulls up a Google Doc, “Don’t call him that.”

“And you’re wearing his jacket,” Bodhi kicks at her arm. She bats his leg away. “Do you like him?”

“Are we in sixth grade?” She retorts. No longer interested in the essay, she turns to him. “Besides, you’re just projecting your sexual tension with Luke onto me.”

He _pshaws_ loudly and unconvincingly. “Umm, no.”

Jyn just raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well-” Bodhi stammers over his words. “You _would_ be interested in Cassian if you didn’t have your weird text-thing with Bar Nerd!”

Her jaw drops, “I am _not_ interested in Bar Nerd!”

Bodhi just raises an eyebrow at her, smug and pleased.

She grits her teeth. “I’m not.”

“Then why are you blushing?”

“I’m wearing blush,” She lies through her teeth. She decides to deflect. “How’s Luke?”

“How’s Bar Nerd?”

They glare at each other in silence until, just moments after the other, they each gets texts.

Jyn breaks eye contact first and looks at her phone.

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Do you ever just want to punch people?** _

She looks up from the text to see Bodhi smiling at his own screen, tongue out slightly in excitement. It’s got to be Luke.

She smiles at his oblivious face and turns to her own phone to reply to the person she _doesn’t_ have a crush on.

_To: Bar Nerd_

_It’s more like ‘do I ever want to NOT pu ch people’ u kno?_

“We even?” She asks her best friend.

Bodhi nods, “We’re even.” Silence. “But then again, you have _two_ love interests and I only have one, so not _really_ even-”

For that, she hits him with a pillow, starting a pillow fight.

Anything to get him to drop this.


	13. Don't change your number (Cassian)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for violence and racial and gendered slurs.

Cassian shoves himself in a corner booth at the Millennium Falcon, papers spilling out of his arms. His normal booth was taken, but he figures the privacy in the corner works better anyway. The midterm essays were driving him to drink and so he decided to get out of his stuffy apartment and bother Han for a couple hours.

He’s setting aside his pens when the signature dark stout of a Captain’s Curse Ale slides in front of him. 

“Hey, professor,” Leia says with a grin. “Lots of papers today.” 

“Indeed,” Cassian says, and looks at the giant, rugged flannel worn over her nice white dress. Her hair is out of her braid and she looks the most casual he’s ever seen the aspiring politician. “I didn’t know you were moonlighting as a lumberjack slash bartender.” 

Leia sticks her tongue out at him and explains, “I spilled beer on my jacket. Han let me borrow his as mine soaks as I help out tonight. Did I guess right? On what you wanted to drink?”

Cassian looks at his signature drink. Knowing the contents of the responses he's already graded, he planned on going for whiskey. But since that would be ill-advised...

“Perfect,” Cassian says, saluting her with his mug.

Leia smiles and whips her head around to face the bar, where Han wipes the counter down. “I told you I could do your job!”

“You got _one_ drink right. Stick to the politics, Princess!”

Leia winks at Cassian before heading back to the bar.

He smiles to himself as he grabs his grading pens. He goes to tuck into the grading process when he hears boisterous cheering from the other side of the bar.

It’s a group of men, cackling and cawing like crows sitting in his normal booth. Han gives him a “can you believe these fucks?” look from the bar. Cassian nods in agreement at his bartender friend and tries to go back to work.

It’s hard to focus, considering how boisterous the group is. It gets worse the later they stay and the harder they drink. Thankfully, he can still knock through most of the essays.

Leia, apparently in the midst of a bet with Han that she “can too serve drinks a whole shift”, slides into the booth across from him with a scowl on her face.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, desperate for a reprieve. He would text Good Time or Jyn but the both of them were busy tonight and he doesn’t want to annoy. Luckily, he TA’d a class Leia was in last semester and Leia was a frequent visitor of the Millennium Falcon too, so he has a friend, colleague and comrade in her.

“Those scruffy ass-clowns are grabbing me left and right,” Leia rubs at her side. “Every square inch of me is pinched.”

Cassian sneers over at the men, who are texting and calling on their phones and guffawing loudly.

“Why hasn’t Solo kicked them out?” He assumed Han had better judgment than that. Especially in regards to “his princess.” The bartender in question is glaring and scowling at the rowdy group, about a subtle as a gunshot.

“I won’t let him,” Leia says. Cassian looks back over at her, and the senator-in-training sighs. “I can handle it for one night. Besides, they tip well.”

Cassian pulls out his last ten dollar bill. “I’ll give you this if you spit in their drinks.”

She closes his hand over his own bill and winks at him without taking it, “Who says I haven’t been?”

He laughs to himself as she leaves him be once more. His phone buzzes on the table.

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck goddamit** _

He frowns, concerned.

_To: Good Time_

_What’s wrong?_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Some fucks got mynumber and they keep calling and texting me pics of their dicks and im so fucking pissed** _

Cassian, on a hunch, looks back over at the group. One of them is pulling his phone out of his pants, to the loud amusement of the rest. He gets another text.

_**From: Good Time** _

_**I keep telling them to hstop but they wont** _

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Fuck, I can’t handle this. The past three months have been mothing but dicks! Fucking dicks!** _

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Im going t cry i swear to god** _

_To: Good Time_

_I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do._

_**From: Good Time** _

_**I just hate thus** _

Cassian sighs in sympathy and looks over at the men once more. Jaw set, he closes his stuff up and goes to Han’s back office.

Chewie looks at him in confusion but says nothing as Cassian grabs a paint can that is marked with the same grey color as the walls and carries it out to the booth.

The men stare at him confused and Cassian just puts on his Plastic Smile (that he wears to meetings with the more conservative members of the administration and when annoying students keep talking during discussions.)

“I need to paint the wall,” Cassian says. “Move out of the way.”

“I can’t understand you, speak English,” One of the guys says, speaking condescendingly slow.

“Just. Move,” He reiterates, not taking the bait.

“Whatever,” One of them slurs out and they all move out of the booth. Cassian waits until they sit down somewhere else before popping open the paint can, standing up on the ruined upholstery and painting over Good Time’s number.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Someone asks, grabbing his arm so hard he is nearly yanked off the bench.

“Redecorating,” Cassian pulls himself free. “Do we have a problem?” The paint is dripping across other numbers but at least Good Time’s is covered so he closes the lid on the can as punctuation to his question.

“No we don’t, _esé,_ ” One of the white boys says pointedly. “We already got the chick’s fuckin’ number.”

“Delete it,” Cassian says, jumping from the seat so they are all standing on the floor. On the same level, but these douchebags are still so much lower.

“Cass,” Leia says, intervening. “Don’t-”

“Stay out of this,” One of them snaps out at her. Leia curls her lip in a sneer at them before turning to Cassian. Her eyebrow raises the question _do you know what you’re doing?_ He nods and she steps back.

“Delete the number,” Cassian squares up to the leader, a blond-haired douchebag with a fake tan, the one who called him ‘ese’. He’s got at least five inches on Cassian, and 20 more pounds of muscles, but they aren’t fighting yet. At least he’ll have strategy and sobriety on his side if it comes to it.

He really hopes it doesn’t come to it.

“Or what?”

“Or I will. Stop being assholes to G- to the girl,” He demands, nearly slipping on his nickname.

The douche in front of him scoffs, gesturing to the wall with a haphazard flail of his hand. “Come on, the bitch was asking for it, _spic_ -”

He barely gets the word out before Cassian’s fist flies into his face, knocking him back onto his ass.

Cassian has barely been in fights before, mostly just protecting some other kids (like Kaytoo) when he was a kid, but not since high school. He’s rusty.

Which explains why he makes the decision to fight a guy with three friends as back up.

Just as they start really ganging up on him, after taking punches to the face and the gut, an air horn blares _loudly_.

The blonde douche lets go of his (now-ripped) collar and he stumbles back a foot or so. _Mierda_ , he is dizzy.

“You four fucks are banned,” Han says matter-of-factly, spinning the air horn in his fingers. Cassian just barely hides his smirk.

“What the hell dude?” The one that told him to speak English sneers. “He punched first. You should band _him_ and call the cops!”

Cassian wipes at the blood seeping from his mouth, and thinks to himself _it’s_ ban _, no ‘d.’ Who needs to speak English now, fucker?_

“That’s not what I saw,” Han says.

“Me neither,” Leia says, twisting her face up faux-sympathetically as she leans majestically against the bar counter. It might be the lightheadedness but she looks like a Renaissance painting. “You punched first, clear as day.”

Chewie makes a noise of agreement and the four of them stare down the other four.

“Fuck this,” One of the assholes says, and they all exit the Millennium Falcon.

“You’re an idiot, Andor,” Han says, and then reaches below the counter to pull out a first aid kit. “Since you _redecorated_ for me.”

Cassian smiles at the bartender- at his friend and sits back at his spot in _his_ booth.

Much better.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've gotten a lot of questions on this, and I meant text more as in message, since Jyn and Cassian usually respond in facebook messenger (which I'm covering in a couple chapters). But usually if you put in the same number in a different contact, you are none the wiser.


	14. Jyn's Coda (for Chapter 13)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jyn sees the redecorated Millennium Falcon (and bandages our favorite professor/boxer).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Jyn's little epilogue for the previous chapter!

Jyn stomps into the MillFal ready to beat up those fucks who kept texting her, and finds the bar nearly empty.

Except for Cassian the Cute TA, Han the Asshole, Leia the Powerful, and Chewie the Beast. Not that she'd tell any of them those nicknames, but that doesn't stop her.

What does stop her in her tracks is the fact Cassian is bruised and bleeding, with Leia and Chewie nearby as Han cleans up the bar.

“Jesus,” Jyn says and neatly jogs over to check on him. “What happened to you?” His cheek is bruised, there’s a cut on his eyebrow and lip, and his knuckles are scraped. Is it bad she finds it kinda hot? (Yes. Yes it is.)

“He fought _four_ guys,” Leia says, using a first aid kit to patch him up. “Like an idiot.” 

Cassian doesn’t fight that, seething at the antiseptic on his face.

“Yo Erso,” Han says. She whips her head around just in time to catch a bag of ice. “For his troubles.”

Leia leaves the first aid kit on the table and scoots out. “It’s getting late. Chewie, will you give me a ride to my place?”

The tall man nods and they split. Jyn just barely catches Leia shimmy her shoulders at her and Han roll his eyes, but she’s too focused on Cassian.

“Did she get your hands?” Jyn asks. People often overlook the hands, but those hurt like a bitch if they get fucked up. Cassian shakes his head 'no.' She settles in beside him, after she shrugs off the leather jacket to drape over the back booth, and starts fixing him up.

“How are you so good at this?” He asks, hissing at the antiseptic as she then neatly wraps his hands in bandages.

“Practice,” She says. “I used to box, and also get into fights.”

“Me too, the fights I mean,” He says, and she shoots him a look that clearly says, _how the hell is that possible, Nutty Professor?_  He shrugs with a fair mix of self-deprecation and amusement. “But I’m rusty.” 

She gently pats at the non-bruised parts of his hand. “There you go, all fixed.” 

He flexes his hand out and grimaces.

“Hold off on flexing that,” She says and holds his ice pack up for him for a bit, “Did you grade my essay?” She should distract him from the pain.

“Was working on it when those assholes were stirring up trouble,” He says. She wonders if it’s weird she’s holding ice to his face, but he doesn’t seem put off. “Unfortunately, they needed to be taught a lesson.”

“Well, who better to do it than a professor?” She says with a crooked grin.

He smirks at her then groans, “Ugh, I’m gonna have to go into class with a beat-up face. I’m going to have to explain that to _Draven_. And to the students. Dammit.” 

“It’s not that bad,” She assures him honestly. “Besides, I’m sure you could tell everybody your book collection fell on you and they’d believe you.” 

He rolls his eyes at her, “My book collection would _break_ my face, thank you very much-”

“Oi, Roussey and De La Hoya,” Han calls out. “Grab your shit, I’m closing up early.”

“I didn’t even get a drink!” Jyn gripes, but she looks back at Cassian who’s biting his lip. She ignores the zing that courses through her.

Before she could do something stupid (like invite herself to his apartment), he sighs and stretches. “Well, I need to finish up grading at my apartment then.”

“Maybe you’ll avoid a fight there,” She says, teasingly optimistic.

“Knowing my roommate, doubt it,” Cassian slides his papers together. “Can I give you a ride?”

“I’ll be fine,” She assures and they walk out. Just as Han goes to close the door and shut off the lights, she remembers. “Shit, left my jacket in there.”

“Be quick, Erso,” Han orders and she flips him off and reenters the Millennium Falcon.

The door locks behind her and she rolls her eyes and goes to grab her jacket, and does a quick double take.

Her number. It’s gone, covered in paint.

It’s an obvious patch-job with the paint still dripping but the number is gone.

She lets herself have a moment to dance around excitedly before leaving with the jacket, feeling lighter than she has in months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean for this to get this long so I made it its own chapter. Hope you enjoy!


	15. For a Good Time Tweet (social media vignette)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: So this jumps us forward a bit a couple weeks, and over this time Bar Nerd/Good Time get closer but so do Jyn and Cassian. (And so does the whole gang!) blame @roverkelevra for the idea!

**Rate My Professor**

Davitz Draven

_Overall Quality:_ 3.5

 _Would Take Again:_ N/A

 _Level of difficulty:_ 3.9

 _Hotness:_ <One third of a spicy pepper>

 _Top Tags:_ gives good feedback (6), lots of homework (3), get ready to read (3), skip class? you won’t pass (2).

_Ratings:_

“Good”

Listen, Draven is a bore and if you don’t read all the fucking book your screwed. BUT his TA is a hot piece of ass. Take the class just for his face. Trust me.

“Awesome”

Draven knows what he’s talking about... when he bothers show up lol. But his TA Cassian Andor is a goddamn gift, he gives great feedback and is fun to look at;)

“Meh”

I hate a professor who doesn’t actually teach. Yes, his TA is hot but like cmon that’s not the point here. Hes’ not the actual prof. Like ugh. (but Cassian’s face could make a blind woman weep. I want that on the record).

-

Chirrut Îmwe

_Overall Quality:_ 4.9

 _Would Take Again:_ N/A

 _Level of difficulty:_ 2.0

 _Hotness: < _Two thirds of spicy pepper>

 _Top Tags:_ inspiration (10), beware of pop quizzes (8), hilarious (8), amazing lectures (6), respected (5), clear grading material (4), extra credit (4).

_Ratings:_

“Awesome”

Chirrut is handsdown one of the best profs I’ve had at Yavin U. He’s blind but he sees EVERYTHING. I swear, his lectures are fantastic and you can just tell he’s so passionate about it.

“Awesome”

TAKE THIS CLASS!!! Professor Imwe is so amazing and inspirational. He loves to meet with students and he’s just a constant joy. This class makes you work for your A, but you’ll love the work.

“Awesome”

Tbh I didn’t expect to like a reading class with a blind professor but Chirrut Imwe is so fucking cool. Gives great assignments and is very funny. Yeah, you have to work but like it’s good work and you need to have a class with him before you graduate.

-

Cassian Andor

_Overall Quality:_ 4.7

 _Would Take Again:_ N/A

 _Level of difficulty:_ 3.5

 _Hotness: < _One whole spicy pepper>

 _Top Tags:_ gives good feedback (9), respected (5), accessible outside class (4), get ready to read (3), skip class? you won’t pass (3), caring (3).

_Ratings:_

“Awesome”

Cassian is the only good part of a class with Draven. I can’t wait for him to become his own professor so I can stare at his face every class I s2g. Also, Cassian is totally passionate about the books and stuff. But his FACE is also important

“Good”

He is really hot, but he does not take that for granted he works hard and it shows. He really like to have a good discussion and he's so helpful. He is also lowkey strict when he gives lectures but its fine. He is smokin' hot but overall a good teacher...

“Awesome”

I love Cassian! The best part of Draven’s class! Such a passionate, intelligent guy. I met with him for help on an essay and he just gave such good feedback. Put up with Draven for Cassian!

+

**Twitter**

@JynStardust: Hitting up the MillFal tonight who’s with me?

@ImThePilotRook: @JynStardust I am so in my dude

@WiseOwlImwe: @ImThePilotRook @JynStardust “we are in” --Baze and Chirrut

@HanSoloFalcon: @JynStardust stop fucking callin it that

@JynStardust: @HanSoloFalcon i will when it stops annoying you

@Princess_Leia: @JynStardust @HanSoloFalcon lol good luck with that

-

@Cassian_Andor: Look at how many hats @JynStardust has on (picture of: Jyn Erso wearing three hats balanced on her head)

@JynStardust: @Cassian_Andor I’m so talented

@KaytooSO4: @JynStardust @Cassian_Andor give me my hat back Jyn

@JynStardust: @KaytooSO4 @Cassian_Andor shhhsh im balancing

-

@ImThePilotRook: I;m mnever drinking that muh again fuck u @JynSSTardust

@JynStardust: @ImThePilotRook dude thats not me lol

@ImThePilotRook: OH SHT UFCKI SORRY @JynSSTardust

-

@HanSoloFalcon: @Princess_Leia get off twitter and get out of my bar

@Princess_Leia: @HanSoloFalcon make me

@Chewbacca: @Princess_Leia @HanSoloFalcon (picture of: Han Solo carrying Leia Organa out of the Millennium Falcon bridal style)

@LukeWalkSkyer: @Chewbacca @Princess_Leia @HanSoloFalcon omg just date already

-

@JynStardust: “To do that would mean, not merely to be defeated, but to acknowledge defeat- and the difference between these two things is what keeps the world going” #TheJungle

@Cassian_Andor: @JynStardust Wait did you actually do the reading?

@JynStardust: @Cassian_Andor dude no, goodreads

@Cassian_Andor: @JynStardust I’ll take what I can get

+

**Facebook**

Jyn Erso: Two pilots hard at work -- With _Luke Skywalker_ and _Bodhi Rook_ (picture of: Bodhi Rook asleep on a sofa with a blanket on top cuddling with an equally exhausted Luke Skywalker)

 _Liked By:_ Cassian Andor, Leia Organa, Han Solo _, and 26 others_

 _Comments_ :

Bodhi Rook: shhhhhhhhh sleeping

Luke Skywalker: shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Leia Organa: @Luke Go fly a plane

Luke Skywalker: YOU FLY A PLANE

-

Bodhi Rook: They’ve been playing for 3 hours (picture of: Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso at the Millennium Falcon playing beer pong, intense looks on their faces)

 _Liked By:_ Luke Skywalker, Han Solo _,_ Leia Organa _and 15 others_

_Comments:_

Lyra Erso: Jynnifer Stardust Erso, are you drinking?

( _Comment Liked By:_ Galen Erso)

Cassian Andor: Jyn, your middle name is Stardust?

 _(Comment Liked By:_ Bodhi Rook, Leia Organa, _and 5 others_ )

Jyn Erso: It’s rootbeer! (And Cassian, I’m not afraid to punch u i stg)

-

Cassian Andor: Settle a bet, which movie is better than the book: Princess Bride or The Shining?

 _Liked By:_ Jyn Erso, Baze Malbus-Îmwe, Kaytoo Sofore, Leia Organa _and 55 others_

_Comments:_

_(Show 35 Replies)_

Jyn Erso: The Princess Bride movie is so iconic!! It transcend s the book!

Cassian Andor: But The Shining was robbed! Everyone agrees!

Han Solo: I regret commenting and getting all the notifications for this dumbass thread

 _(Comment Liked By:_ Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, Bodhi Rook, and _50 others_ )

**Facebook Messenger**

_Conversation Between:_ Cassian Andor _and_ Han Solo

_Han Solo: So are all the babes in ur class digging your bruises from the fight the other night?_

Cassian Andor: No.

_Han Solo: You’re a goddamn liar, Andor. I’m cutting you off_

Cassian Andor: Fine, I’ve gotten a few offers for people offering to bandage me up

_Han Solo: You poor Florence and the machine_

Cassian Andor: It's Nightingale you dumbass

_Han Solo: This is why I get laid and you don't_

Cassian Andor: I'm screenshotting this and sending it to Leia

_Han Solo: YOU BETTER FUCKING NOT_

Cassian Andor: Free drinks for a month

_Han Solo: No_

Cassian Andor: A week?

_Han Solo: No_

Cassian Andor: A night?

_Han Solo: Deal_

_-_

_Conversation Between:_ Jyn Erso _and_ Luke Skywalker

_Luke Skywalker: Jyn_

Jyn Erso: Skywalker

_Luke Skywalker: Hypothetically, if I were to ask out Bodhi, what should I do?_

Jyn Erso: Idk

Jyn Erso: I dont kno how u gays ask fellow gays out ur on ur own

_Luke Skywalker: Thats homophobic_

Jyn Erso: Shit, is it?

_Luke Skywalker: lol no i just say that whenever something doesn’t go my way_

Jyn Erso: u maniacal bastard

_Luke Skywalker: haha_

_Luke Skywalker: but seriously help me I don’t want to do this wrong_

Jyn Erso: Ask ur houseplant friend

_Luke Skywalker: Professor Yoda is not a houseplant_

Jyn Erso: Then why is he green Lucifer

_Luke Skywalker: He has a skin condition fuck it_

_Luke Skywalker: Jyn i am on my literally knees help me_

Jyn Erso: U can’t prove that

_Luke Skywalker: Well i can send you a pic_

_Luke Skywalker: But that would look bad_

Jyn Erso: God forbid

_Luke Skywalker: How would u ask Bodhi out?_

Jyn Erso: I wouldn’t bc hes like my brother and also gayer than a skittles commercial

_Luke Skywalker: Im telling him you said that_

Jyn Erso: good a conversation starter to ask him on ur lame date

_Luke Skywalker: Jyn._

Jyn Erso: I dunno do something with the sky. Get him up in a plane or in a hot air balloon. Do skywriting

Jyn Erso: omg do skywriting bc its like skywalker

Jyn Erso: Kinda

Jyn Erso: ok the pun was bad u dont need to ignore me ask ur twin

_Luke Skywalker: I was asking my twin for good leads on a skywriter ur a genius_

Jyn Erso: I’m screenshotting this and using it as an argument when i fight Bodhi

_Luke Skywalker: not until I ask him out_

Jyn Erso: deal, golden boy

-

_Conversation Between:_ Cassian Andor _and_ Jyn Erso

_Jyn Erso: would u rather_

Cassian Andor: Jyn, I have a friend’s dissertation to read, I can’t play a game.

_Jyn Erso: Thats not my fault_

_Jyn Erso: Would u rather be an Avenger or an xmen?_

Cassian Andor: Xmen duh

_Jyn Erso: DuH??? Wtf dude be an avenger_

Cassian Andor: Why would I do that to myself?

_Jyn Erso: Ummm its obvious u get to keep ur own identity and ur own costume and save the world from aleins and shit_

Cassian Andor: A uniform is unifying! That’s the entire point. Plus, most of the Avengers don’t even have superpowers, they just have money or connections.

_Jyn Erso: dont act like u don't want money and connections_

Cassian Andor: And you’d have it as an X-men

_Jyn Erso: like that old crone would give u any of his money_

Cassian Andor: Did you just call Charles Francis Xavier an old crone?

_Jyn Erso: Im abt to call u a nerd if u dont stop ur nonsense_

Cassian Andor: Oh my god what? You started this!

_Jyn Erso: Bc I assumed u were a cool Avengers fan_

Cassian Andor: Haha that’s on you

_Jyn Erso: Shame to have had hope_

Cassian Andor: Next you’re going to tell me you hate the X-men prequel series

_Jyn Erso: I do_

Cassian Andor: I’m failing your next essay

_Jyn Erso: Bc I’ll write it on why Avengers is better than the X-men and that’s not what the class is abt_

Cassian Andor: Now I actually have to get back to the dissertation

_Jyn Erso: Sux for u_

_Jyn Erso: See u at millfal later?_

Cassian Andor: You bet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks @roverkelevra! I hope this satisfied ur curiosities over what did people write on RateMyProfessor. Then my mind went crazy and I decided to write this whole entire nonsense.  
> Also, I have an idea for an xmen!Au for Rogue One, would anybody be interested in reading it?


	16. But you make me so happy (Jyn)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You asked for more Good Time/Bar Nerd, and I shall deliver<3

Jyn looks at the FaceTime application on her laptop and takes a deep breath. She is _not_ ready for this conversation.

Stalling, she sends two texts.

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Wish me luck_

-

_To: Bodhi Rook The House_

_We’re stayin in and drinking wine and eating cake tonight._

_To: Bodhi Rook The House_

_I’m fucking terrifuoed_

_**From: Bodhi Rook The House** _

_**Good luck Stardust** _

-

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Good luck. You okay?** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Will explain later_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

**_Now you’re worrying me._ **

She doesn’t respond, since her FaceTime starts to ring. She nearly drops her laptop but she manages to press _accept_ without incident.

“Hi Stardust!” Her dad greets, somehow enthusiastic and exhausted at the same time. “Can you hear us?”

“Yeah-”

“Jyn! Can. You. Hear. Us?” Her mom enunciates every word at an alarming decimal.

“Mom!” She interrupts, laughing. “The wifi is bad but not _that_ bad.”

“Have you tried-”

“I've tried it all,” She reassures her father. “How's work?”

Galen makes his signature grimace when work is brought up. “Going well,” He says politely. “But I'd rather talk about classes. How is school?”

“Better be good for what we're paying,” Lyra gripes with a smile.

Jyn takes a deep breath since she wants to delay this conversation. And then she remembers her literature class.

“Remember how I hated English?”

They both nod. The screen glitches and she takes the opportunity to breathe.

“I have this great new teacher, well teaching assistant,” She explains. “He makes it easy to learn and to understand, he’s been very helpful and I have an A in the class.”

“That’s amazing!” Her mom claps her hands together, always a fan of literature and revolutions. She was very excited her daughter was taking this class since she’s a librarian.

“We’re proud of you,” Her father says, grinning warmly.

“There’s something else I have to tell you,” She says. “And- And I’m kinda worried.”

“You can tell us anything, Stardust.” 

She knows they're telling the truth.

“I’m getting a minor, in graphic design,” She says. The rest of the words come out quickly, “I haven’t been feeling happy in computer programming but this is a great way to combine art with computers and I’m kinda scared but I already have a course and I just need three more credits-”

“Jyn, honey, slow down,” Her mother asks, chuckling a little before she becomes somber. “I’m sorry, I had no idea you’re not happy in computer programming. I had no idea.” 

“Me neither,” Galen says. “I feel awful, Stardust.” 

“Don’t feel bad-” Jyn says. She feels bad because she _did_ want them to feel bad, because they were forcing her into computer programming. Or so she thought. Dammit. “I just- I want to try this.” 

“Try it all,” Lyra urges. “That’s what college is for, Jyn.” 

“If you want to double major, or just the minor, or even switch majors do it, whatever makes you happy,” Her dad says.

The idea of double majoring hadn’t occurred to her and she takes a moment to think about it.

“Are you frozen?” Her mom asks. Her dad reaches over to shake the screen a little.

Jyn laughs, “No, I’m just thinking. I- I should double major. I have all those credits for computer programming, and I’m good at it. But I really want to give graphic design a shot.”

“Do it,” Her mom says. “I believe in you.” 

She chats with them a bit longer, but she’s honestly so relieved that the conversation doesn’t even register. It’s not until the conversation is over and she’s calling Bodhi.

“Who even calls people anymore-”

“They were supportive! I’m double majoring in computer programming and graphic design!” She shouts in his ear, jumping off her tiny bed and dancing on the floor.

“Oh my god, Jyn, I’m so happy for you-”

“Quiet down!” The annoying bitch next door shouts through the wall, banging on their shared side.

“Fuck off!” Jyn shouts back and continues dancing.

“Crazy neighbor?”

“Yep,” Jyn starts doing the running man anyway, fuck her neighbor.

“C’mon, I’ll take you to the MillFal, my treat.”

Before she knows it, she’s at the Millennium Falcon counter with six shots of tequila in front of her.

“Party with me,” She orders Bodhi before tossing back a shot.

“No way, Stardust, I'm playing babysitter tonight. You go crazy,” Her best friend says, sipping at a beer.

She smiles at him, hoping it conveys the _you're the best and I love you_ she's feeling.

He smiles back and she thinks he knows.

“Hey Jynnie,” Han greets with a nickname she pretends to mind. “You're not at the booth.”

“Chirrut, Cassian, Kay and Baze are at a professor's thing tonight,” Bodhi says as Jyn sucks at a lime wedge. “Leia is studying for a poli-sci test and Luke is with his Aunt and Uncle for dinner. So Jyn and I decided to not take up space.”

“How considerate,” Han says with a twinge of sarcasm. Jyn flicks salt at him. He brushes it off and says, “And six tequila shots? Really?”

“Don't judge me, Solo, I'm celebrating,” She says, still smiling. “I'm changing my major. I’m celebratin’ with tequila.”

“Fucking finally, Erso,” He toasts her with his trademark water bottle at his side.

“Here, take the rest of the bottle.” He spins around to grab the bottle Chewie originally poured for her. "On the house." 

It’s the Avion Silver Tequila she chose to celebrate, and there really is only a finger or so left. But she’s thrilled. She reaches over the bar and hugs him tight.

“Ew, get off me, I’m not Cassian,” Han shrugs her off, after patting her back nicely.

Jyn scowls at him, mood affected, “What does that matter?”

“I told you it was obvious,” Bodhi says pointedly, then winces when Jyn kicks at his shins.

“You aren't ruining my fun,” She tells them both, and then downs tequila from the bottle.

Time passes once more and she's getting placed in the backseat of a car.

“Who driving? Who car?” She asks Bodhi, who's getting blurrier by the second. Blurry Bodhi. Bodhi Blurry.

“Stop saying that,” Bodhi says as he moves to sit in the spot beside her. “Chewie’s giving us a ride because I can't carry your dead weight on my own.”

“Thanks Chewie!” She accidentally yells so loudly that Bodhi winces.

Jyn pulls out her phone and tries to focus on the screen and pulls up Bar Nerd.

“Oh no, don't drunk-text-”

“Shhhh I'm not drunk.”

_To: Bar Nerd_

_I'm deujnk_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Drunkae_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Dejarik_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Drunkk_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Could've fooled me** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Hahahahahahaha_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_You're fubny_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Are you doing okay? What did you need luck on earlier?** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_I bet ur cute r y cute_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Are you asking me if I'm cute?** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Ye I want stun knkw_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Tell me_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Tell me_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Tell me_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**I don't know how to answer that question** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Pic_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Smelliest_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Selfeib_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Selfie_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**I don't think that's best idea** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_:(_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_Whateve I full bet ur cute_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_But I neednto kno if ur cuter than my professor learning guy_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_He's cvvey cute_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_R y cuter than him_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_??????_

_To: Bar Nerd_

_?¿¿¿?_

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**I don’t know.** _

_To: Bar Nerd_

_U text cute_

“Jesus Christ, Jyn,” Bodhi takes her phone away.

“Brodhi!” She whines, then starts giggling hysterically. “I meant to say- _bro_ but then I changed to Bodhi and then I say both. Say both _._ Said both.” 

“This is a great convo, Stardust,” Bodhi says as the earth stops moving. “The Earth is always moving but the _car_ has stopped.” She said that out loud again. Ooops.

“Let me text Bar Nerd,” She says. “I need to say goodnight.”

“You’re so whipped,” He shakes his head. “No. You can say goodnight in the morning.” 

“Good point,” Jyn says, and lets Bodhi lead her back to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	17. Cassian's Coda (for Chapter 16)

“Put your phone away right now, or I swear to God I will break it,” Kaytoo says through his teeth beside Cassian.

They’re at an academic dinner (“shindig” is the word both Draven and Kaytoo used) to drum up alumni donations. And it’s boring as hell. He’s an alum and after this night, he wants his money back.

But Kay does have a point. Good Time is obviously drunk off her ass, and that apparently means she’s texting him like her life depends on it.

“Pardon me,” He says to their table and goes outside the venue. He sits by the bench in his nice clothing and continues texting Good Time with a smile on his face. Until she asks for a pic.

A “Selfeib” to be exact.

He bites at his lip in thought, and he doubts that Good Time would ever ask for a picture if she were sober. And he’s personally enjoying the anonymity, the freedom that not being yourself can bring. So he tells her no.

And she doesn’t pressure him, but then she does bring up a professor she finds attractive and something inside his chest clenches.

Against his wishes, he thinks back to the moment Alema told him she was leaving him, that she had been cheating on him with her classics professor, Professor Keatli.

Just his luck to find another girl who’s into another professor.

With a final text, he shuts his phone off and goes back to the shindig.

After a horrendous night, Cassian wakes up and goes to brush his teeth. When he comes back, there’s a new text on his phone. It’s from Good Time.

_**From: Good Time** _

_**God just reread all my tesxts from last night and im sorry for being annoying** _

Cassian laughs a little. Looking back, he didn’t find it annoying so much as worrisome. From what he’s gathered about Good Time, she only seems to let loose like that a couple times, and he’s not sure if it’s a good thing when she does. With an unwanted flash, he remembers the mention of a cute professor. He didn't like the feeling when Good Time talked about it. He doesn't need to compete with another academic for another girl. Not that Good Time is his girlfriend or anything. He’s about to respond (anything to get out of his head) when another text pops up.

_**From: Good Time** _

_**And sorry fr tthe scare I just got some good news and celeertated** _

Cassian smiles to himself.

_To: Good Time_

_You weren’t annoying. And what’s the good news?_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**I finally am studying what I want to** _

_To: Good Time_

_Good, studying is important_

_**From: Good Time:** _

_**I mean my major, dummy.** _

_**From: Good Time** _

**_For a Bar Nerd ur a dummy_ **

**_From: Good Time_ **

_**Sorry i should be nicer but im too excited and hungover to be nice but Im now studying smthg else** _

_To: Good Time_

_Holy shit, you changed your major?_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Nah I have too many credits for that but I m gonna  to double major** _

_To: Good Time_

_I'm happy for you!_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Thanks Bar Nerd** _

_To: Good Time_

_I think I'm a bit more multi-faceted than that moniker now_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**You just proved my point** _

He smiles at his phone.

_To: Good Time_

_Congrats, Good Time_

_**From: Good Time** _

**_Thnx Multifaceted Bar Nerd_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little something to get some of Cassian/Bar Nerd's perspective!! I promise, next chapter will have major Jyn/Cassian interaction! <3 thanks for reading!!


	18. But you make me so happy (Cassian)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't be able to post for a few days bc my working schedule is fucking ridiculous (I'm working 4am-5pm on Memorial Day so... that'll happen lol) but I wanted to get this up because I love this chapter so much!!! it's just jyn and cassian being nerds together and having a good time and i love it!!!

Cassian walks into the Millennium Falcon. His credit card company probably think he’s an alcoholic but he can deal with that. He gazes around the room to see Chewie manning the bar, which must mean that Han is out with Leia again. Those idiots need to get past their bullshit and just ask each other out.

He goes to text Baze when he sees Jyn sprawled across their usual booth, wearing sunglasses inside and with one of the literature books, _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_. There’s even a pen in her mouth that she’s biting at, seeming to make annotations.

The thought, surprisingly enough, makes him pleased. He smirks to himself and heads over.

“Hey, Jyn.”

She leans up and makes room even though the booth is spacious, “Hey, Cassian.” 

“How’s it going?” He scoots beside her.

“Pretty good,” She says, setting the book aside and pulling down her sunglasses, revealing vaguely red-rimmed eyes. Since she doesn’t seem to have embarrassment or sadness, he’s guessing a lasting hangover. “How are you?”

“Pleased you’re doing the readings,” He says. She rolls her eyes, her mouth quirking up a bit.

“Don’t you ever turn it off? Or is it just a mindset you enter when wearing that outfit?” She gestures to seemingly his whole being, but probably the fact he’s wearing the Standard Professor Tweed and a Tie™, not to mention his reading glasses. He knew he had to read lots of manuals that day so he wore glasses to not strain his eyes.

“There was an academic meeting,” He defends his wardrobe, then tugs at the tweed. “And I borrowed this from Draven.”

“Well, that was your first mistake.”

They share a smile.

“Let’s see your annotations,” Cassian grabs her book from its spot and opens it up. Jyn leans back a bit and settles in, sipping her drink he’s come to know as a mix of Jameson, Ginger Ale and lime juice (depending on how bad her day is, there’s more whiskey than lime, sometimes even more than ginger ale).

He reads through, making sure to keep the page set apart so she doesn’t lose her spot. And his eyebrows raise and he turns to her.

“‘I can’t believe a book this gd boring starting the Civil War,’” He reads aloud. He gives her a look that hopefully says _c’mon, Jyn._

“Is that not proper annotation, professor?” She asks, blinking owlishly at him with a teasing tone in her voice.

Something akin to a jolt of lightning rushes through him at the moniker and he clears his throat and turns back to the book (if anything kills the vibe he’s feeling, it’s the sentimental white-guilt drivel of _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_.)

“I’m not a professor yet, and ‘boring-ass bullshit’ is definitely not a proper annotation,” Cassian continues to read aloud another quote from her book.

“Well, that’s not my fault the book is boring-ass bullshit,” Jyn says, taking the book back. “What kind of readings will you assign when you're a professor? Hopefully you have more common sense than Draven.”

Cassian can't help but snort, “Wouldn't be that hard.” He pauses. “I didn't say that. That was unprofessional.”

“I didn't hear it,” She sips at her drink. “But you should answer the question, I could use a break.”

He highly doubted that she’s read enough to warrant a break but who was he to not talk about his professor reading plans?

“I love revolutionary literature but I definitely think I'd try not to force anyone to read anything that they didn’t want to read,” Cassian says.

“I wish you were my professor now,” She says. “I bet you’d teach cool books.”

“I’d hope so,” Cassian says, feeling oddly pleased. “If I had to teach a literature requirement, I’d try to structure the semester into themes and then have each theme have a selection of books so the student could have some autonomy and pick which book to read, and the discussions could compare and contrast ideals and analyses of those themes- Sorry, this is probably boring,” Cassian says, adjusting his glasses. Kaytoo pointed out that when he was nervous, he was 87% more likely to fiddle with his glasses. Cassian pointed out that he should shut up.

To stop looking at Jyn, he looks over at the door as it opens and sees Han walk in. Even at the distance, he can see the makings of a few hickeys on his neck.

“No, it’s not,” Jyn says, then pauses. “Well, I just don’t follow. I’m just a lowly STEM kid.”

He nudges her gently with his leg, “C’mon, you're not lowly. I couldn't do anything with a computer. I practically abuse the fan constantly.”

She laughs and he finds himself smiling.

“What kind of books?” She asks. “Please tell me nothing like this ridiculousness.”

With that, she shoves the book across the table and lets it hit the ground, like a cat with anything breakable.

He stifles a snort. “I haven’t thought that far ahead, I have a few more years to get my Masters.” He takes a pull of his drink, and she goes quiet.

“Bullshit, Andor.”

He looks back over at her in slight surprise. She fixes him with a look, “I won’t judge the books.” He hides his face behind his drink. He didn’t realize that her reasoning was probably his problem. “Well, I mean I _might_ ,” She jokes. “But I have a good poker face. Han can attest.” She gestures to him as he approaches.

“I can,” Han grumbles, coming over to clear the empty drinks. “Cleared me out of a 100 bucks last night.”

Jyn grins, somehow both innocent and wolfish. “Don’t worry, Solo. I’m gonna spend it all here.”

Han rolls his eyes and leaves them alone.

She looks at him with her hazel eyes and awaits a response. He smiles reluctantly.

“I really love revolutionary literature in the way that Draven teaches, where it's not just about the American Revolution, it's about works that matter.”

“So Revolutionary Lit is supposed to be about the American Revolution?” Jyn asks. When he nods, she makes a face. “As a Brit, I'm thankful that you two avoided that.”

After Cassian finishes laughing, she kicks at his foot gently and says, “Call it something else when you teach. Rebellious Literature.”

“Inciting Literature,” He plays along.

“Literature without a Cause.”

“Resistance Lit.”

“Rogue Lit.”

They keep laughing. “I fold, I can’t think of another rebel title.”

“Me neither,” She admits. His phone buzzes in his pocket and he quickly checks it.

_From: Alema DONT CALL HER_

_Hey Cassie how are you?_

Cassian bites back a grimace and then shuts his phone off and turns back to Jyn. Before he can distract himself, she does it for him.

“So which books?”

He tried to hide his immense relief at the subject change. “I’d love to teach Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and maybe more books that shook up literary standards, not just society, like _Harry Potter_ and _Roald Dahl_.” 

“I love Roald Dahl, he’s iconic,” She says. “This is pathetic, but _The Witches_ gave me nightmares when I was a kid.” 

“Me too,” He admits. Then he nudges her. “They _were_ pretty damn scary.” He racks his brain for a moment or a quote, then says the only one he remembers, “‘I am not, of course, telling you for one second that your teacher actually is a witch. All I am saying is that she might be one. It is most unlikely.’”

“Are you saying you’re a witch?” She nudges him back.

“I’m saying it is most unlikely,” With that, he knees her thigh. Soon, they’re playfully kicking at each other and laughing in the booth.

Thinking of Good Time, he pulls his leg away after a moment. It’s odd, he kind of feels like he’s cheating. He looks down from the booth counter and looks back up at her.

She’s staring at him.

He realizes a bit belatedly he’s staring back.

“Did you know goldfish can’t blink?” She says.

Cassian blinks, “I- what?”

For a moment, he thinks she’s blushing, but he attributes that to the liquor. “Oh, nothing- I just heard that. About goldfish. That they don’t blink.”

He debates telling her that he knew that already, that he knows most everything about goldfish but instead he just goes, “Really?” Because why does he need to reveal how even more of a nerd he is.

Jyn shrugs, “Or so I’ve heard.”

“That's so interesting,” Cassian says, nearly choking on his beer. Trying to cover it with with a cough. If Chirrut was there, he'd say something about this being a sign they're cosmically destined.

But since he's not, Cassian just smiles at Jyn, and that's enough for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we are nearing the realization... And massive thanks to @theislandergirl for the idea of jyn mentioning a goldfish fact! I'm so glad I was able to incorporate it.


	19. I need to make you mine (Jyn)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it is time

Jyn is going to have a panic attack. And she hasn’t had one of those since last semester.

“Tell us the whole thing,” Leia says, rubbing Jyn’s shoulder as she hyperventilates in Leia’s living room. She’s surrounded by Bodhi, Leia and Luke, and they’re all looking at her like she’s insane. Which makes sense, because she certainly fucking feels like it.

Jyn coughs on her own anxiety before nodding.

“Okay, okay it started when I was at MillFal earlier...”

-

_Jyn slid into the booth already shared by Chirrut and Baze. “Sup, dads?” She greeted them._

_Baze rolled his eyes like usual while Chirrut beamed at her._

_“Hello,_ mèimei, _it’s been a bit,” Chirrut greeted back. “Baze was just telling me how Solo finally covered the old number on the wall.”_ _  
_

_“Wasn’t me,” Han said as he placed a drink order on their table, including hers because he’s magic like that. He tapped Chirrut’s drink to his hand. “Here’s your drink, Îmwe. And Cassian did it, the night he got in that fight.”_

_“Cassian did it?” Jyn asked in surprise, sipping at her whiskey drink. Han is such a good bartender. “Why would he do that?”_

_“I know, it’s odd,” Chirrut said in agreement to her earlier statement. “Especially after he texted that very number. Wait, Baze, did Cassian actually text that girl that night?”_

_“Aye, he did,” Baze said. “I think Kay said he’s been texting her for a while now.”_ _  
_

_Jyn’s blood started to run cold. Cassian, Goody-Two-Shoes Professor, has texted her? “For a while now”? There’s only one person she’s texted regularly who got her number from the Falcon._

_“It was when those bar fucks were dicking with that number,” Han said like he was remembering it. “That’s when he went over to paint it.”_

_“Really?” She asked. She was surprised her voice didn’t crack._

_None of them seemed to notice._

_“Told you he was the jealous type,” Chirrut says to his husband. “I have a special sense on these things.”_

_She cleared her throat, “Cassian just texted a girl who wrote her number on the wall? That seems sketchy.” You know, like a comedy sketch. Like a joke._

_“I agree, people shouldn’t write their number on the wall,” Han said, side-eyeing her. She wondered if he had put the two pieces together. And if he had, if he was going to say something. To her, or worse, to Bar Nerd. Cassian._

_Fuck, oh my god._

_They’re the same person. She’s been texting her drinking buddy before they met. She’s drunk-texted her Literature TA. She’s talked about dicks with a summa cum laude undergraduate in English Literature who is currently pursuing his Master’s. She’s had a text-friendship (text-lationship? textship? God she has no idea) with a guy that the dozens of people in her literature class would cut off their left ass-cheek to touch, much less talk to._

_This entire time, Bar Nerd has been Cassian._

_Holy shit._

-

“Holy shit,” Luke says when she wraps up the story.

Jyn nods. She had eventually made some half-assed excused and fled the bar to hide in Leia’s apartment (since Leia, Luke and Bodhi were watching _Project Runway_ ). And she still can’t catch her breath.

Leia the Powerful then clasps her hands together, “What a cute story to tell your grandchildren.”

“I think you’re a couple steps ahead of her, Lei,” Luke says, seemingly laughing at the face Jyn is involuntarily making. “Jyn, dude, you need to breathe.”

Something about him makes her listen and she feels like she’s actually getting air again. He coaches her through a couple rounds of breathing until she doesn’t feel so tense.

“Bodhi, babe, you’re being awfully quiet,” Luke points.

Jyn looks up at her best friend and sees the contemplative look on his face. “What are you thinking?” She asks, needing to know. Maybe what he’s feeling is what she’s feeling and she won’t have to describe it. Bodhi has always been better with words than she is (which isn’t saying much).

“I’m thinking I can’t believe I actually thought you had two men into you, that’s ridiculous,” Bodhi says. “Hell, I can't even believe _one_ person is into-”

Before she even really knows what she's doing, she's lunging at him and tackling to the floor.

“They're worse than we are,” Luke says, Jyn just barely hearing him over Bodhi calling “uncle! uncle!”

She lets go and stays flopped on the floor. “What the fuck is wrong with me?” She asks, hopefully not getting an answer. None of the other three respond, thank god, so she continues. “I just keep getting all these flashes of it all coming together. Cassian _and_ Bar Nerd are both literature students, Cassian fought those assholes at your boyfriend’s bar-” She throws a hand at Leia, who rolls her eyes with a smile, “-When I was texting Bar Nerd about how miserable it made me, he mentioned Roald Dahl a-and a crazy roommate. Oh god, they even _text_ the same-”

“Wow, you’re blind,” Bodhi says. Jyn lunges at him once more but Bodhi fights back harder this time and is harder to take down.

“This drama is better than _Riverdale_ ,” Leia says.

“Wow, okay, I wouldn’t go that far,” Luke says, almost sounding genuinely offended on behalf of Riverdale. “And you guys, stop it, you’ll break the table.”

They _were_ getting dangerously close to the coffee table. But Bodhi is still struggling strong.

She immediately loses the fight in her and goes back to the floor. He flops down beside her. “C’mon, Stardust. Let’s ignore how bat-blind you are and focus on what matters here.”

“And _what_ , exactly, matters here, Pilot?” Jyn asks. She hates the fact her cheeks are burning and she hates the fact she feels like an idiot. Did Cassian know? Did the other students know? Does  _Han_ know? If Han knows, she’ll jump into a river she swears to God-

“It’s the fact that you can now date Cassian in peace,” Bodhi says obviously. “I’ve had the misfortune of watching you idiots dance around each other. You have been half-flirting with these two guys since December,” It’s almost an admonishment. “It’s time you stop screwing around and _start screwing around_.”

Just for that, she considers fighting him again. But she doesn’t, she just sighs.

“You’re right, I need to something. But what?” She asks them.

None of them say anything, just stare at her in shocked silence. “What?” She asks.

“I think hell just froze over,” Luke says.

“I think the Earth stopped moving,” Bodhi adds.

“I think pigs-”

“Guys,” Leia snaps. “She must obviously be distraught if she said you’re right, Bodhi.”

“True,” Bodhi agrees and Jyn pulls her knees to her chest to shove her face in and hide her shame.

“You need a big romantic gesture,” Luke says, pondering and brainstorming. “Something at the Millennium Falcon?”

Jyn shakes her head, “I’ve embarrassed myself there enough, but thanks.”

Leia snaps her fingers, “The Yavin Spring Ball! I know Cassian will be there, he was talking to Han about it.”

Jyn’s nose crinkles in disgust. “The school dance? Why does Yavin even have those? We’re college students.”

“It’s a good excuse to look pretty,” She says obviously. “Besides, it’s the perfect place for a romantic gesture.”

Jyn darts her eyes across her three friends. If you had asked her at the beginning of the semester, only Bodhi would have counted. But she guesses she’s changed. That she’s opened up. And she knows Cassian, Bar Nerd, and Cassian/Bar Nerd have played a part.

She winces, “What do you have in mind?”

Leia and Luke share a smirk.

And she might immediately regret that decision.

But at least she finally has a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol i bet you guys didn't believe me when I told you the reveal was "soon"


	20. I need to make you mine (Cassian)

Cassian hates events like these, but Kaytoo says it’s good practice for when they’re professors and need to schmooze as part of their salary.

It's the night of the Yavin Spring Ball, where students, faculty and friends go to the school’s athletic center to drink (if legal) and converse.

“I wish Han was tending bar,” He tells Kaytoo, tugging at his bowtie that Kay insisted didn't look ridiculous. “Then I could at least be drinking Captain’s Curse.”

“You need a new drink, Cassian,” His roommate says. “That one is just too inaccessible and depressing. It’s so dark. If it weren’t a simple alcoholic beverage, it might be terrifying.” 

“It’s a _stout,_ it’s supposed to look foreboding,” He sips at the swill in a cup. Honestly, why is Boone’s Farm at a social event? It’s a disgrace. One benefit of befriending Han is knowing how to tell good booze.

“I’m going to talk Professor Mothma, at least she’s pleasant,” Kaytoo says like he’s berating him and leaves him to sulk off to the side.

Cassian, even though it’s a faux-pas (he knows this because Kaytoo had gone over different party etiquette a billion times in preparation for tonight), grabs his phone out of his pocket and pulls up texting Good Time. Since he knows Kay will be pissed, he ducks off closer to the wall so he doesn't attract attention.  

He bites back a sigh when he sees he hasn’t texted her in a few days, and he feels pretty guilty. But, honestly, he's been enraptured by Jyn and it's made him fall out of texting Good Time. But then Jyn started acting weird over the past couple of days, ignoring him. Plus, he probably shouldn’t be pursuing things with a student in his class.

He pulls up Good Time’s contact, and he's debating how to text her when his phone buzzes in his hand.

_**From: Good Time** _

**_Hey Cassian. Nice bowtie_ **

He almost texts back _haha Jyn_ when he realizes that it's not from her.

And then he nearly chokes on the wine.

_To: Good Time_

_Wait what?_

_To: Good Time_

_How do you know my name?_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**Han ratted you out n I pieced it together** _

_To: Good Time_

_Ratted me out?_

_**From: Good Time** _

_**U painted over my number. Thnx for that btw** _

_To: Good Time_

_I did but how do you know I'm wearing a bow tie ?_

_**From: Good Time** _

**_Magic_ **

_**From: Good Time** _

**_I'm at the ball too_ **

Cassian swallows and looks around. Good Time knows who he is. And she doesn't seem repulsed. But he has no idea because he can't see her yet.

He pushes off the wall to look around better when someone grabs him from behind and spins him around.

Before he knows it, lips are on his. Soft, familiar lips. Instinctively, his eyes close but then they open just in time to see who it is.

“Alema,” He pulls away so they're not touching anymore. “What a shock.” There's no way Alema is Good Time. He talked shit about her to Good Time. There was no way-

“Cassie,” She smiles that way that used to disarm him. Now he just stares back with level eyes. “It's so good to see you.” Something about the way she doesn’t seem to be carrying on a conversation from texting seals the fact she isn’t Good Time to him, and he relaxes. Marginally.

“I bet. How’s Professor Keatli?” He asks.

Something flickers on her face. “We broke up.”

“Damn shame, now if you excuse me-”

Her fingers curl around his arm, anchoring him to his spot.

“I always felt awful about what happened between us,” She starts.

He doesn't let her finish.

“You should. You treated me like shit. But I'm over it and over you. If you'll excuse me.”

He looks around the center, walking around trying to find her, he needs to find Good Time.

_To: Good Time_

_Where are you?_

No response. Before he can text again, he's practically shoved up against the wall by... Bodhi and Leia?

“What are you doing?” What is his life right now? Why do people keep grabbing him?

Leia glares at him, “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“I can't right now, I need to find Good Time-”

“You mean Jyn?” Bodhi snaps. “The girl who's heart you just broke.”

He doesn't have time to think. “What? Jyn? She isn't-”

“Spare us the realization,” Leia holds up a palm, instantly silencing him. “She left.”

“What? Why?” Cassian’s heart might explode, he feels like it’s beating so fast. There is too much going on.

“She saw you and that girl, she left.” Bodhi says, looking pissed.

“She’s Good Time?”

“God, you’re dense,” Leia crosses her arms over her white dress and then turns to Bodhi. “Told you this was a bad idea.”

Bodhi gives her a what-the-fuck look, “This whole nonsense _was_ your idea-”

“God- fuck, okay, I can fix this,” Cassian mind is running a mile a minute.

And soon he's running out the door.

“Wait! Cassian!” Bodhi chases him outside so now they’re down the steps in front of the building.

Reluctantly, he skids to a stop. “Rook, I have _no_ time-”

“She's probably at the MillFal,” The pilot says, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You should go there.”

The Falcon. Yes.

“Thank you,” Cassian says, then runs to the MillFal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a mocking text is as Romantic Gesture™ as Jyn gets in my opinion lol. We're wrapping up the story!! Only a couple more chapters left...


	21. you're the girl for me (Jyn)

Jyn walks (nay, stomps) into the Millennium Falcon and looks for Han, who’s at his trademark location behind the bar.

“Do you ever move from that fucking spot?” She snaps at him without thinking.

Han looks up from his martini shaker thing to glare at her. “You’re banned.”

“No,” She whines, drawing out the word. He jumps in slight shock at her tone and, honestly, she’s surprised too. “I need to drink to forget my feelings.”

“That’s alcoholism,” Han tells her, but he hands her a water bottle from under the counter. Before she can sneer, he assures her, “It has vodka in it. Splash of tequila too.”

She takes a glug and nearly spits it out. “Shit, you aren’t kidding,” She says. Despite the strength and sourness of the booze, she downs another swig of the swill.

“Easy there, rebel,” Han suggests. She flops against a bar stool and rests her arms on the counter. She sighs, loudly, and he groans. “I’ll regret asking this, but what happened?”

“He didn’t pick me,” She says, purposefully vague. “He picked his ex.”

“Cassian, huh?” He says and she looks up in surprise. “I’m not an idiot. Plus, I called this from the beginning.”

“Fuck off, no you didn’t,” She says, no bite in it. He just shrugs silently, so she keeps talking. “I just- I’ve been texting him, this _entire_ time and now I know everything from both sides-”

“Wait, so you _are_ the Good Time that used to be on the wall?” Han asks, then seethes.

Jyn gives him a thoroughly unimpressed look, “Don’t tell me you sent me a dick pic.”

“Before Leia and I were dating,” He insists, and he stammers over other words but, honestly, she’s wallowing in self-pity too much to care or pay attention to them.

“Have you _seen_ Alema?” She asks but doesn’t wait for an answer. “She’s tall and pretty and has pretty dark hair and-” 

“And doesn’t have raccoon eyes.” 

Jyn sneers at him, “You’re a dick.” 

“I’m a dick with access to alcohol,” He takes the bottle from her. “And yeah, Alema is hot but it seems like Cassian likes you.” 

“I can’t compete with hot!” Jyn says desperately. “I saw her tonight at the Spring Ball-” 

“Why does Yavin even _have_ those-” 

“Shut up,” She hisses. He listens. “And she looked hot as hell and he obviously thought so and they kissed.” 

That causes him to look surprised, “He kissed her?” 

She grimaces and admits, “It’s more like she kissed him but he certainly didn’t seem to mind.”

Han cleans a mug while he seems to ponder a response. The drawn-out silence eats at her insides.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Fuck you.” She says, like he’s joking. 

“I’m not kidding, Erso. The dude is ass over tits for you, and you’re gonna let his stupid ex get in the way?” Before she can get a word in, he slams the mug down on the table with a thud. She’s nearly shocked it doesn’t shatter. “I figured you for reckless, not brain-dead.”

“Hey,” She jumps off the bar stool, kicking it down to the floor with a loud clang. “I am _not_ brain-dead, I just know when to call it quits. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up in the first place.”

She goes to down more of the water bottle vodka when he takes it from her mid-gulp, causing her to choke.

“Graceful,” Han says, raising an eyebrow.

“Fuck off,” Jyn says as she violently swipes the back of palm against her lips. Then she remembers her lipstick so she fixes the smudges with a cocktail napkin.

Han opens his mouth to blather on once more when her phone dings. Saved by the bell, she looks at the screen.

_**From: Bodhi Rook The House** _

_**Cassian is on his way to the MillFal to find u** _

_**From: Bodhi Rook The House** _

**_I have maybe a minute_ **

**_From: Bodhi Rook The House_ **

_***U ugh being casual is hard** _

“Shit,” Jyn groans as Han’s phone beeps. He pulls it out of his apron. He quickly reads it and then shows her the screen because they're both assholes in arms.

_**From: Cass-Ass Andor** _

_**Is Jyn at the bar?** _

_**From: Cass-Ass Andor** _

_**Please, I need to know.** _

Jyn bites at her lip. Fuck, when did everything get so complicated.

“What do you want me to say?” Han says.

“I-” Jyn says, but then her phone buzzes.

_**From: Bar Nerd** _

_**Jyn, I know it’s you now. Please, let me find you so I can explain. I’m on my way to the Millennium Falcon and I hope you’re there. If not, let me know.** _

“Shit,” She says, and throws herself over the bar counter and hides by Han’s feet.

“Jesus Christ-” The bartender curses as she settles in. “This is not the proper way to handle dealing with your boyfriend.”

“Right, I should just write ‘Date Me’ on a paper umbrella and give it to him in a Daiquiri,” Jyn says, referencing how Han finally asked Leia out a week ago. Sneakily, she takes back the vodka bottle from his apron and drinks some more.

“That was _romantic_ as _shit_ , okay-” 

The door opens and she pinches him hard so he stops talking.

Hopefully, he won’t blow her cover.


	22. you're the girl for me (Cassian)

Cassian enters the Millennium Falcon, nearly skidding to a stop to look around. It’s pretty empty since most of everyone is at that stupid ball (seriously, why does Yavin even have those) but he just _knows_ Good Time- Jyn has to be here. Not only is Bodhi probably right, but he can't think of where else she'd go.

“Han!” He calls over and practically falls into a bar stool in his haste. “Is Jyn here?”

“Erso?” Han asks, then shakes his head. “No. Haven't seen her.”

Cassian, on an adrenaline crash, falls against the counter. “I fucked this thing up. Dammit.”

“What happened?”

Before he knows it, there's a mug of Captain’s Curse Ale in front of him. He smiles weakly.

“Thanks,” He drinks some. It takes away the taste of the awful wine, but doesn’t get rid of the ache in his stomach. “I- Remember when I texted that girl, um, Good Time?” He needs to exercise more he’s still a bit out of breath from running around. He downs more of the drink to calm down.

“Yeah, think so,” Han says, pondering. “The skank defaced my bar- ah!” He suddenly cuts himself off, wincing in discomfort as he yelps a little.

“What happened?”

“Stubbed my toe, go on,” Han waves a hand. “So you texted her?”

“Yeah, we've texted for a while anonymously and apparently she knows who I am but Alema just _blindsided_ me at the Ball tonight and I think I fucked everything up. But she- Good Time- said you knew who she was, can you tell me? Please, Solo, I’m begging you. Is it really Jyn?”

If Han were to ask him to, Cassian would fall down to his knees. That’s how fucked he is. He needs to know.

Han looks at him, like he’s considering something. He looks down briefly before looking back up.

“Yeah, Andor,” He says, almost slow and strained. “It’s Jyn.”

Before Cassian can even react, Han seethes even louder this time and curses towards below him, “ _Fuck_ , I’m not gonna cover your ass, you bar defacer!” 

Suddenly, from behind and under the bar, Jyn leaps up, stumbling slightly, “You dick pic’er! I said-” 

“Jyn,” He breathes out her name, relief coursing through him like a river.

Even through her own yelling, she seems to hear him and she turns to him, the fight leaving her as her shoulders slump.

“Cass,” She says back, a look on her face he’s never seen before. And he lets himself have the realization Bodhi and Leia denied him earlier.

He feels like a genuine idiot as he stands by the bar at the Millennium Falcon. How did he not see this before? Jyn is Good Time. Good Time is Jyn.

Dear god, he was jealous of _himself_. And he drunk-texted a student. Draven is gonna kill him.

But he doesn’t want to think about Draven right now.

“Jyn,” He says again and gulps down the golf ball that feels like is choking his throat.

That’s when she stumbles, and Han catches her by the elbow as he lunges for her. But, of course, the counter is in his way.

“That’s it,” Han says under his breath as he practically marches Jyn out of the bar area. “You two figure your shit out in my office. But no banging in there, or I swear to God I’ll add the cleaning fees to your tab.”

“You used to be fun,” Jyn gripes as Cassian follows them to the back office.

Han turns to him with a heavy, long-suffering look as he forces Jyn inside and says, _“_ _ Tu novia esta loca, buena suerte, pendejo." _

The bartender shuts the door on them and then it’s just the two of them.

“I’ve been drinking vodka,” She says to him, like a warning. “I’m sober but you’re blurry.”

He can’t help the smile that appears on his face. “I bet Solo has water back here.” 

“It’s _all_ vodka,” She says conspiratorially before falling maneuvering herself to sit on the floor. Even though it’s kind of odd, he sits down across from her. “I feel like an idiot.” 

Part of him tells him that he should reassure her, but he doesn’t. He just says, “Me too.” 

She smiles up at him like that was the right answer. “I’m Good Time. I am. But I _just_ found out, like, three days ago.” 

“Han told you?” 

She shakes her head, “Not really? It was like... pieces...” She trails off and starts melding her fingers together so they interlock. “All fit. Chirri and Bazzy and Solo were all saying things about you during that fight. And they said you texted Good Time, _ages_ ago. And still did.” 

“But maybe I just sent you a dick pic,” He says, and then nearly facepalms himself. Why is he being contrary?

One side of Jyn’s smile quirks up. “No,” She says. “I couldn’t believe that.”

He smiles back at her, and then she sighs and frowns. “What’s wrong?” He asks.

“It sucks this can’t work,” She says before falling back to lie on the ground. He scoots over so he can still see her face. 

“Why can’t it?” He feels oddly indignant.

She looks up at him with those hazel eyes framed by dark eyeliner and dark eyelashes. They look brighter and warmer in the florescent lights of Han’s office.

“Because I’m drunk and you’re a gentleman,” She says, turning her head so they’re looking right at each other. “But more, you’re in love with your girlfriend. And history trumps mystery, everyone knows that.”

Cassian purses his lips together in thought, then decides to gently lift her up so she’s sitting.

“Jyn...” He says her name, for what feels like the billionth time that night. “I’m not in love with Alema.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight cliffhanger oops but i think we all know where this is going


	23. you give me something I can hold onto (Jyn)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a short chapter, but we're nearing the end!

Everything is blurry except for Cassian’s face.

It really sucks that he’s so goddamn devastatingly handsome, with his dark brown eyes and fucking perfect jaw.

Jyn really hopes she isn’t saying any of this out loud.

His fingers move a strand of hair that’s in front of her eyes, and his touch lingers there. The pads of his fingers are so rough. Where does a really hot literature TA get off having rough, manly hands? It truly isn’t fair.

She realizes she hasn’t said anything since he said he didn’t love his ex. But those words mean too much to her for him to get away with just saying it once.

“Say it again,” She asks. Or maybe demands. She’s not sure.

“I’m not in love with Alema,” His lips quirk a little, like he finds her and this whole thing amusing. “She broke my heart, yes, but that was over half a year ago. Any lingering shit was just my stupid pride. You- you as Jyn and you as Good Time have been occupying my thoughts since December. I swear to you.”

She swallows. The words are so nice to hear but she hates this, because she knows she’s bad at this. That she’s going to fuck it all up.

“I don’t want to fuck this up,” She admits. His stupid face, making words easy.

“What is ‘this’?” He asks, letting his hand fall from her face. Instantly, she misses it.

She closes her eyes and she tries to think in all the vodka that feels like is marinating her brain. “I’m not sober enough for a good answer,” She warns him. “But... I like you, Cassian Andor. I like Cassian, the TA who worked me to try and get an A in literature during the day and tried to drink me under the table at night. I like Cassian, the guy who gets into a fight for me because I was a drunk idiot a few months before. I like Bar Nerd, who texted me goldfish facts when I needed it the most. I like _you_.”

He smiles at her, and it soon becomes the least blurry part of his face. “I like you too, Jyn. I like every part of you.” He scoots closer so there’s less than a few inches between them. If it weren’t so perfect, she’d hate the fact they’re telling each other this on Han Solo’s fucking floor.

“Kiss me and prove it,” She whispers.

“You’re drunk,” He says. But his eyes are looking at her lips. Because they’re dry (and to mess with him), she takes the time to lick at them.

“You’re no fun,” She says with a smile. He smiles back. “You really don’t love your girlfriend?”

“I don’t even like her anymore,” He says like a promise.

“But she likes you, she kissed you,” She says, like he wasn’t there.

“She does like me, but it doesn’t matter, because I’m not going to let her ruin whatever this thing is between us.”

“‘Thing,’” She quotes thoughtfully. “I’ve always kinda hated the term boyfriend-girlfriend, but I’m willing to give it a shot here.”

That causes his eyebrows to raise. “Really?”

“Yep, even though you’re a bit too old to be a boy now.”

He gives her a look, “I’m 24, Jyn.”

“You’re a man, and it’s kinda hot,” She says, then shrugs. She’s basically admitted to him more in this one night than she’s ever admitted to anyone ever so she throws caution to the wind and says, “It’s very hot. It’s really unfair how hot you are, Cassian.”

“You are drunk,” He says once more, and pulls her to her feet. She trips but he catches her. “I should take you home.” 

She flutters a hand to her chest, “Why, Mr. Andor-” 

“Just to your door, Jyn,” He reiterates. “Like you said, I’m a gentleman.”

She studies him, and he waits patiently as she does it. “We should try the manfriend-girlfriend thing when I’m sober. You should text me, or message me or whatever, and we should go on a date.”

“To the Millennium Falcon?” He asks with a smirk.

They’re still standing so close. She wonders if she’s imagining the heat radiating off him, or if he’s just this beacon of warmth. Maybe it’s both.

Her nose crinkles, “Maybe a movie.”

He laughs, and she smiles.

“Good plan,” He nods.

“Good plan for a good time,” She says with a wink, then nearly stumbles off Leia’s stupid, pretty heels.

“Alright,” He catches her once more before she can hit the ground. “Let’s get you home.”

“Alright,” She repeats, and lets them walk out of the office, his arm around her waist. (She’s definitely not imagining the heat now).

“You better not have banged in there!” Han shouts at them as soon as they exit the room. Jyn looks up to Cassian having an amused yet embarrassed look on his face.

Well, Jyn is used to being a spectacle and keeps them walking out the door.

But not before shouting back, “Add it to my tab.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Victorian Era Slow Burn


	24. you give me something i can hold onto (Cassian)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER

After making that awful pun and shouting at Solo, Cassian needs to make sure Jyn gets in okay. So, he walks with her to her dorm. He would have done it anyway, but it definitely seems like it’s necessary now.

“You like in Kenobi Building, right?” He has heard her complain about her neighbors in that before, but he wants to make sure.

She nods, a lethargic, easy movement. And then she trips again. “Dammit,” She curses as he catches her.

“Why are you wearing heels?” He asks, not meaning for it to sound like an admonishment.

She gives him a playful sneer as they step off to the side to situate themselves. “I was dressing to impress tonight, Andor.”

That’s when he really notices her outfit. Instead of her usual t-shirt and jeans or leggings and Doc Martens, she’s wearing a flowy, silver dress with some of that beaded stuff on the chest. Since the dress is vaguely familiar to him, he figures she borrowed it from Leia.

In the lights that litter the campus, her chest sparkles. (Being a writer, he should honestly work on making that thought more romantic.)

He also notices the blue heels that give her an extra three inches.

“Leia’s a half size smaller than me,” Jyn says with a grimace as she wiggles a foot. “And I can definitely feel it now that the vodka is leaving my system.”

“I told you to drink water,” He says and then steps in front of her, back to her face.

“Get out of my way.”

He rolls his eyes in the darkness. “C’mon. Piggyback ride.”

“Really?” Her tone is dry, but he doesn’t budge. He doesn’t want her to trip and break something.

“Might as well, since you told an entire bar we banged in an office, we should keep up the ridiculousness.”

“‘An _entire_ bar,’” She scoffs, but then hops up. He catches her thighs and holds her close to his back. Her arms gently wrap around his shoulders and her face leans against his neck. He suddenly worries his hair might not smell good before he remembers he took a shower before the ball tonight. “It was _five_ people.”

“Shh,” He murmurs and walks them to the Kenobi Building. He lived on campus for freshman year of his undergrad at Yavin U, but moved off campus with Kay as soon as he could because it was much cheaper. But he trusts his directions now.

“You smell really nice,” She says. “But don’t remind me of that I said that tomorrow when we go on a date.”

“Try and stop me,” He says back and she laughs.

“For a literature nerd, you’re very strong,” She says.

“Yes, because you’re such a pain to carry,” He says back sarcastically. She flicks at his shoulder.

He continues to walk her across campus, dismaying her from various activities, like jumping in the fountain with all her clothes on, vandalizing the statue of the founding headmaster of the school, and jumping into the fountain with _no_ clothes on.

“You’re pretty reckless, you know that?” He tells her.

“It’s been told,” She says, and then she gently bites down on the side of his neck.

He hisses, more out of surprise than pain. “What are you doing?”

“Being reckless,” She says obviously. Cassian laughs and carries her to the front of the Kenobi Building. He sets her down.

“Are you going to be okay to get in? Because I’m not sure I have clearance to enter dorm build-”

He doesn’t get the word out, because her lips are suddenly on his, her hand on his neck to pull him down. Those lips may not be familiar, but they’re soft and a bit sour from the vodka-tequila she apparently drank.

He definitely doesn’t mind the taste.

His hand goes to her hair as hers tightens on his shoulder, scrunching up the fabric of his shirt.

She pulls away and smirks at him as he blushes. “Thanks for sticking around,” She says.

“Anytime,” He says, clearing his throat. “I’ll, um, text you. Tomorrow.” He turns to leave, but she stops him.

“Wait!” He turns back around. “Phone.” Unsure of what else to do, he hands her his phone. “What’s your passcode?”

“Even though I’ll doubt you’ll remember it in the morning, no,” He says, then simply holds his thumb to the home button.

She glances up at him with narrowed eyes before muttering, “You should hope I don’t remember _that_ , you ass” before tapping away at his phone and making faces at it. He should be vaguely worried, but all he can do is laugh.

She hands him back his phone and he looks at what’s pulled on the screen.

It’s her contact, with a silly selfie she must have just taken as the contact photo. “Good Time” is replaced with “Good Time Girlfriend.”

He raises an eyebrow at her, but she just smiles lopsidedly at him.

“I’ll think of something better when I’m sober,” She promises. “But you should go so I can sleep this off.” She waves her fingers around her head for emphasis.

“I’ll text you, Good Time Girlfriend.”

“You better, Bar Nerd Boyfriend.”

He kisses her once more, this time just the cheek, and leaves her to sleep it off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO I KNOW I SAID ITS THE LAST CHAPTER BUT DONT WORRY I HAVE TWO EPILOGUES PLANNED (ONE FOR JYN AND ONE FOR CASSIAN) AND I PROMISE TO UPLOAD THEM SOON SORRY FOR SCREAMING IM JUST SO EMOTIONAL RN


	25. I can always turn to you (Jyn's Epilogue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the first part of the epilogue, and this takes place a couple months later. Like if last chapter was late March, this is mid-May.

_To: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)_

_Guess what color bra I’m wearing_

_**From: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)** _

_**This will either go very well for me or very poorly.** _

Jyn raises her eyebrow at her boyfriend who sits across from her in the crowded booth. Their friends chatter around them, but they’re not paying attention.

_To: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)_

_Guess, u nerd_

**_From: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)_ **

**_If you’re going to bully me, then no_.**

Jyn looks up to sneer playfully at Cassian, who smirks at her in return. His gaze returns to his phone. She watches his fingers (his long, expert fingers) type a response.

**_From: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)_ **

**_Blue_.**

He raises an eyebrow slightly at her, his hands fiddling with his phone. She purses her lips in thought as she debates texting him the answer. But she decides to go another way.

She runs her hands through her hair, for once out of its bun, and shakes it behind her shoulder. She lets her fingers shimmy her shirt sleeve out of the way in a subtle yet hopefully sexy way as she reveals he’s correct before concealing the strap once more. He bites at his lip (she really shouldn’t find that so sexy) then he goes back to his phone.

Before Jyn can get indignant, her phone buzzes in her hand.

_**From: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)** _

_**Your playing a dangerous game, Erso** _

_To: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)_

_*You’re._

_To: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)_

_But I must be if I’m correcting ur grammar._

Cassian smiles up at her.

Before either can respond, Leia speaks up. “Truth or dare, Jyn,” She asks.

Jyn looks up from her phone with a sneer. “I’m not playing that stupid game.”

“Come on, you owe me!” Leia wheedles with a smile. “I got you your boyfriend.” 

“I got _myself_ my boyfriend,” Jyn sips at her whiskey cocktail.

“I like to think I also helped,” Cassian adds. Jyn winks at him playfully.

“It was all me,” Chirrut says magnanimously. He’s been drinking too many martinis and has gotten a bit silly. But, of course, it just makes the night more fun.

“Yes it was, honey,” Baze placates him, patting his hand. He sends Jyn a look that might as well say “ _no it wasn't_.”

“I heard that smirk,” Chirrut says indignantly.

“Everyone heard the smirk,” Kaytoo says, looking at the ridiculousness around him. “Everyone can hear all of you. You’re all being outrageously loud.”

“Thanks, Kay,” Han shouts over from the bar. “Keep ‘em in line.”

“Make your boyfriend loosen up,” Jyn complains to Leia, texting her own boyfriend. “And also to give me another Jameson Ginger.”

_To: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)_

_What are u going to do to me when we’re alone, Professor Andor?_

She smirks up at Cassian, whose jaw had dropped reading over her text.

_**From: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)** _

_**Now you’re just teasing me.** _

_To: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)_

_U can't be a professor if every time anyone calls y one u get a boner_

_**From: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)** _

_**It's not just anyone** _

Jyn feels a blush (a blush! An honest to god blush, this boyfriend of hers is ruining her reputation) when there’s a new conversation topic.

“What are you guys doing this summer?” Luke asks, sitting nearly on top of Bodhi. “I’m going to my Uncle Owen’s farm for a bit to help out.”

“I’m interning for a senator’s campaign,” Leia says, before sending a look Han’s way. “Just 20 minutes from here.” Han smirks to himself.

“I’m getting my recreational pilot license, staying around here for the summer,” Bodhi says, practically bouncing in excitement. “I want to learn to fly one of those tiny planes.” Luke smiles at him.

“I am sticking around here for a conference on the new calculator, TI-91 Rogue,” Kaytoo says. “I’m testing the prototype. Should be exciting.”

“Should be,” Jyn says with a hint of sarcasm. Used to it, Kaytoo throws his balled-up napkin at her. She catches it with a grin. “What about you and Bazzy, Chirri?”

“Baze is surprising me with a trip to China for a couple weeks,” Chirrut says. “And yes, I know about the surprise since it was my idea.”

“How romantic,” Jyn says playfully. Han used a bit too much whiskey in her drink and it makes her sarcastic.

“Shut up, little sister,” Baze barbs back, a gruff, hidden smile on his face. “What about you and Cassian?”

“Working on an article for a literary mag at the apartment,” Cassian says. “So staying here.”

“And you, Jyn?” Leia asks.

“I’m mostly sticking around here, I got an apartment since I’m taking a few summer courses to play catch-up on graphic design.” Double-majoring was the best idea. She’s excited to stay here and do this. Being with Cassian is a definite perk too, but she’s actually thrilled for _school._ Dating a nerd has changed her. 

“But they _are_ going to head down home so Cassian can meet the folks on the Fourth of July,” Bodhi says. Jyn punches him in the shoulder for revealing the secret.

Their little group _oooohs_ salaciously, causing Jyn and Cassian to roll their eyes to each other.

“Meeting the parents, huh,” Han speaks up, coming around to clear empty drinks (and to eavesdrop, Solo is a total gossip). “Isn’t that a bit soon? You’ve been dating for like a month.”

Chirrut _pffts_ his lips dismissively, “They’ve been in love since Cassian texted that goldfish fact in December. That makes it five months, and by then it will be seven. Perfect time.”

Jyn and Cassian smile up at each other, but then Jyn goes back to her phone. After a quick google search, she texts him once more.

_To: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)_

_Goldfish r descended from carp and have ancestors in China_

She watches as he smiles but doesn’t take his eyes off the screen.

_**From: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)** _

_**Are you texting me goldfish facts?** _

_To: Bar Nerd Boyfriend (Cassian Andor)_

_I learned from the best._

Jyn and Cassian smile at each other once more. “Stop sexting at the table!” Bodhi gripes at them, causing them to jump from their reverie. “Ugh you two are sickening.”

“I know,” Jyn says, letting her hand find Cass’s on top of the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feel free to ignore this note but like I originally only planned to write this epilogue but someone pointed out that we didn't get to see a certain other character so that's why there are two epilogues (and also bc i need more Couple!Rebelcaptain)


	26. I can always turn to you (Cassian's Epilogue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE LAST CHAPTER (I didn't mean for it to be so long but like it just happened)

“Do they really like me?” Cassian asks anxiously as they step aside on Jyn’s back porch. The Erso Fourth of July Cookout is in full swing. His eyes anxiously dart around, trying to avoid Jyn’s parents in case they don’t think he’s worthy enough for their daughter. He can see Bodhi and Luke playing cornhole with some kids, Luke’s new dog Artoo running around at their feet. Leia and Han decided to come down as well, and they’re sitting at a table with one of Jyn’s cousins (Lunia? Lyssia? Definitely someone on Lyra’s side) and laughing and eating and enjoying themselves. He wishes he was laughing and eating but his stomach is in knots.

“They do,” Jyn confirms, sipping at her one allotted glass of wine. “You made me a nerd and also interested in reading and also really happy and stuff. They’re ecstatic.”

Cassian smiles but the twist in his stomach still gnaws at him, “They don’t mind the age difference? Or the fact I was your professor?”

She drills a finger into his stomach. “First of all, don’t flatter yourself, you’re a TA yet, Nerd. And yes, I’m sure they think you’ve massively corrupted me and my poor, delicate sensibilities-”

Cassian smothers her lips with a kiss, causing her to smile against him. He pulls away just as she starts to reciprocate in earnest.

“We have to be decent,” He murmurs at his girlfriend. If her parents really do like him, he doesn’t want to ruin it.

“Ugh, fair enough,” She says then straightens his tie. He doesn’t recall the garment becoming disfigured, so he hopes that she likes to get her hands on him as much as he likes to get his hands on her.

“My parents, and I, believe you’re the reason I got an A in literature for the first time in forever. So, you can do no wrong in their eyes. Especially my mom’s.” Lyra, he remembers from quizzing Jyn so he could be knowledgeable about her family, is a librarian at a youth center for troubled kids.  

“ _You_ got yourself that A, Jyn.” 

“So I slept with you for nothing?” She teases, pressing herself close. He’s quickly learned that Jyn can handle any and all liquor, even in large quantities, but each one has a different effect. Beer makes her giggly, tequila makes her reckless, vodka makes her sad, whiskey makes her sarcastic, and wine makes her flirty. For all it’s worth, he’s never actually seen her drink gin.

(Wine is his favorite, with whiskey and beer tied for second. Vodka and tequila in distant third because he either has to play babysitter or see Jyn cry, the latter being one of his least favorite things.)

He narrows his eyes at her but he feels his lips curl in a smile. “You’re insufferable.”

“Want to hide in my room and make out?” 

“Absolutely-” 

“Jyn,” A new voice approaches and Cassian watches as Jyn’s face immediately hardens. Confused, he looks over to see a white-haired man wearing all white and- is that a cape? An honest-to-God cape?

“Mr. Krennic,” She greets, practically through her teeth. Cassian makes sure to stand a bit closer, to offer silent support.

The man’s icy eyes flicked over to him before returning to Jyn. “So good to see you. I've told you before, it's Orson. And who is this?” With his glass, he gestures to Cassian.

“This is Cassian, my boyfriend,” Jyn says. There’s a slight fire to her words. It’s not directed at him, but the heat makes his hair stand on edge. “He’s a grad student at Yavin. Literature.”

“Because there’s a great future in that,” Krennic says, politely scorning.

His eyebrows raise, meanwhile Jyn levels the man in white with narrowed eyes, “Because there’s _so_ much oil left in the world now. Right.”

Cassian laughs but tries to hide it with a cough.

“Can I talk to you for a moment, Jyn?” Krennic asks.

Before he can school his face to hide his surprise, Jyn nods after gulping down the rest of her wine. “Yeah, sure.” She turns to Cassian and kisses his cheek, slipping the glass in his hand. “Be right back.”

Ten minutes pass, and his fingers itch to text her as he mingles around the party. But interrupting would be rude. When fifteen minutes pass, he decides to join Bodhi and Luke, who are playing with Artoo in the grass.

“Hey guys,” Cassian says, stepping up to the pair in the grass. Immediately, Artoo runs over to him and knocks him down on his ass, licking his face enthusiastically.

“How you liking the party?” Bodhi asks, hands sprawled behind him while Luke rests his head on his thigh. “Galen and Lyra really know how to knock one out of the park, for a couple of Brits.”

Cassian had discovered that Bodhi’s foaged family and Jyn’s family had been relocated from London to the American South for work, and that's how they became friends.

“Definitely,” Cassian tries to get the dog’s tongue out of his nose. “I’m really glad I was inv- _Artoo_ , I can’t breathe.”

Luke laughs and whistles at the dog, who immediately trots over to roll in the grass beside his master. “Where’s Jyn? The bar, I’m guessing?”

“No, she’s talking to Krennic.”

Bodhi jolts then freezes. “Krennic?” He repeats. “Alone?”

Cassian frowns, “Yeah-”

“Fuck,” Bodhi scrambles to stand, nearly knocking Luke off of him. “We gotta find them. He’s had it out for her since she was 16.”

Cassian’s jaw set as he cursed himself. “Dammit, okay-”

Han and Leia come over quickly. “What’s going on?”

“We need to find Jyn, she’s with Krennic,” Cassian says. He goes to explain, “You see, he’s-”

“The guy’s Bad News Bears,” Luke says quickly, summing up quite aptly. “You guys take upstairs, we’ll take down, Cassian take the main floor.”

They nod and break off.

Cassian roams through the Erso house, a bit lost still since he’s only seen the backyard, kitchen and Jyn’s room. Everything else is just unfamiliar.

Suddenly, just down the hall, he hears a voice.  

“Krennic, if I have to hear one more comment about Mexicans-” His girlfriend’s voice says.

“Just about the one you’re... _dating_ , Jyn,” Krennic responds. “He’s not good enough.”

“Disagree. Completely. But I often find you wrong. So, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna-”

Cassian hears something knock over, like a scuffle is happening. “Hey!” Jyn snaps. “Let go-”

At that, Cassian rushes into the room, the laundry room upon further examination. More importantly, he sees Jyn shoved up against a washing machine, right arm nearly twisted in Krennic’s grip as she struggles.

“Hey!” Cassian snaps and yanks Krennic off his girlfriend so hard the old man falls against the opposing dryer. “Are you alright?” He asks Jyn.

Jyn glares at Krennic with igniting fury but says to him, “I’m fine.”

“You’ll regret that,” Krennic says as Luke and Bodhi run to the door, standing between the frame.

“I doubt it,” Cassian steps up to him. “Now you leave Jyn alone. Or I swear to God-”

“You’ll what?” Krennic cocks his head, the poster child of condescension.

“Or we’ll fuck you up,” Bodhi says. Krennic whips around to glare at him. He swallows, “Or at least they will.” He points to both Cassian and his boyfriend, who rolls his eyes.

“Get out of here, Krennic,” Jyn nearly spits.

Krennic adjusts his shirt before stepping up to Jyn. “Now, Jyn, do you really think you can speak to me-”

Before he finishes that thought, Jyn punches him in the face and Cassian hears a sickening crack.

“Dear _God_ ,” Krennic gasps out as Luke bursts into a surprised cackle.

“Get out of here, don’t want that to stain your cape,” Jyn says, shaking the pain from her hand.

Cassian can't see Krennic’s face since the old man is holding his nose with both hands.

It doesn’t matter his face, in the end, because, with a flourish of his cape, he leaves.

“Jesus,” Luke chokes on his laughter, causing Bodhi to pat him on the back. “That was amazing.”

“I know,” Jyn says, smirking as she rubs at her knuckles. “God, his jaw is like fucking iron.”

Cassian lifts her hand to his lips to kiss the forming bruises. She smiles at him.

“Ugh, they’re gonna be gross,” Bodhi says, kicking his head back. “C’mon, Lucas, let’s leave them be and find your sister.”

“But I bet she and Han will be gross,” Luke whines but lets Bodhi drag them away.

Now it’s just him and his girlfriend. In a laundry room. Post-altercation.

“Are you okay?” He asks her.

“I’m fine,” She says.

“Great, then I can yell at you. What the hell were you thinking?”

Jyn grins at him, which somehow both makes him calmer and a bit more irritated. “I just figured you saved me from misogynistic dicks last time, now it’s my turn.”

“What are you- oh. The texting guys.”

She nods, grinning a wicked grin up at him as she wraps her arms around his waist. Since he’s still a bit peeved (though slowly calming down), he keeps his own arms by his side.

“You were so hot and manly throwing him off me,” She says into his neck, biting the skin softly.

It takes nearly all his strength but he keeps himself still.

“You hide it, but you are very strong, Professor Andor-”

There goes the last of his resolve.

With that, he lifts her onto the washing machine and kisses her deeply, his hands digging into her waist and her hands in his hair.

He's just about to lift her shirt above her head when the door bangs open and they jump apart.

“Jesus, now you two?” Luke shakes his head somberly and turns to Bodhi, who's covering his eyes with his hand as they stand in the doorway. “First Han and Leia, now them?”

“Go away, Luke,” Jyn says, the ice in her voice making her smile seem dangerous.

“I know when I'm not wanted,” Luke sniffles and drags Bodhi away.

“My room?”

Cassian bites her neck, payback for all the times she's given him hickeys the nights before he's had to teach Draven’s class. “Absolutely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate to make this sound like I'm accepting an award but thank you to anyone who's read this story!! Especially if you've kudos, bookmarked or commented, you really inspired me and pushed me to keep writing this. Thank you thank you thank you.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'll try to update as soon as I can. If you want to talk, feel free to comment or talk to me on tumblr @jynsanity!


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